My Return to the Blogosphere

Hello dear devoted readers! (Are there any of you out there anymore?)

Sorry for my brief hiatus -- I seem to apologize every few months for my blogging absence, haha! Oh well. Such is life.

I've had a lot of personal transition lately and that's taken precedence over my writing, obviously.

Currently, I'm living in New York trying to make it big in the Big Apple. After getting off my Royal Caribbean cruise, I decided to leave Orlando and move up north. It was time for a change.

To pay the bills, I'm working for my good friend, Sarah, showing apartments. It's a tougher job than I expected. Not challenging mentally, but there is a lot of physical stamina involved: running all over the city. It's also commission-based so I'm always at the mercy of the clients.

But hey! It's a survival job.

I have gone to a few auditions here and there, but all the transition in my life: big move, new job, etc. etc. has slowed my grandiose plans for fame and fortune.

On the flip side, I've been able to read quite a few good books on the subway.

So far:

• Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet (fantasy)
• Blind Fall by Christopher Rice (action/adventure/thriller)
• A Bette Midler Bio by ?
• The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss (action/adventure Sherlock Holmes meets James Bond)
• The Devil in Amber by Mark Gatiss (Book 2 in the series)
• The Island of Mending Hearts by Tim Ashley (romance)

All of them have been good. My least favorite was actually the Bette Midler book. Too much information and not enough heart. The author liked to detail each and every song on every one of her albums, which got old. I wanted to hear more about her personality and relationships with people. Not just her accomplishments.


But the rest of my subway reads were extremely good for different reasons. I especially enjoyed Mark Gatiss's books. He's an English writer who's worked on Dr. Who and Little Britain among others. His novels are very witty and well-constructed.

Anyway ... it's good to be back. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

Boo United!

So ... awhile back I had a run-in with American Airlines, and I vented my frustration here. However, it was all monetary.

Unfortunately, Dave Carroll had a much more personal run-in with a different airline: United Airlines.

And boy ... I bet they regret it now.

Dave took his frustration a step further than I did. Instead of a boring blog post, he created a video. In fact, it's supposed to be the first of three. So take that United Airlines! And American ... next time I'm making my own video, too!

But, I bet it won't be as funny as Dave's ...

All the Single Ladies Do What?

This made me totally guffaw! Enjoy!

Crazy Bride!

Fake or not, I love this video!



And, now, the "explanation":

Is Twilight the New Harry Potter???

I’ve finally jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. I know, I know, it’s a little “after the fact”. So sue me.

I love Harry Potter, and I just couldn’t bring myself to betray that series by reading the Twilight series. Until now.

One of my fellow cast members bought the Twilight DVD, and I’d heard that people who’ve read the book didn’t like the movie. I don’t really know why that matters, but I decided to give in, watch the movie, and then read the books to finally see for myself what all the fuss was about.

And I finally finished reading the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. I love the world that Stephanie Meyer has created, and I love the characters, specifically the Cullen family.

However ... I’m amazed that these books became the phenomenon they are. Mostly because I don’t like Bella, the book’s protagonist. It’s not that she isn’t smart or determined. No. She just whines a lot. And complains a lot. Like how she doesn’t want to go to prom. Or graduation. Or receive any gifts. It’s just soooooo unfair, she says. A LOT!

Why would anyone want to be with her? She just isn’t an attractive character to me. And yet, everyone in the series seems to be drawn to her. Odd paradox.

Of course, in the fourth book, she isn’t nearly as annoying. She's actually likable. Instead it’s Jacob Black who annoyed the heck out of me. I guess there always has to be one irritating character in Meyer’s books.

The other thing I can’t wrap my head around is the cold vampires. Every time I read a passage about how Bella kisses the cold, marble lips of Edward, I’m left ... well, cold. Why anyone would positively yearn to curl up into the hard, frigid arms of a chilly, rigid vampire is beyond me. Just doesn’t sound all that pleasant.

But ... even still, the fourth book wrapped up the series well. It was a satisfying conclusion which is oh-so-important to me. Meyer's climaxes are odd, though, in that they’re never really climaxes. Just resolutions to the conflict. Strange.

Oh, well. You know I’ll be buying a movie ticket when New Moon arrives in theaters.

And speaking of ... have you seen the trailer? It's awesome! Enjoy!

[title of show]

I only have one thing to say about the Tony Award nominations ...

[title of show] was ROBBED!!!!

ps. I'm missing the Tony broadcast by three days. I'll still be in the Baltic Sea. :(

Les Miz Bloopers

I grew up on Les Miserables. It was my first musical ... 

My first cast album and my first live Broadway show: a touring production I saw at the Ordway in Minnesota. I love love LOVE Les Miz because of the show itself and because of the nostalgia associated with it.

And so ... this compilation of Les Miz bloopers brought tears (of laughter) to my eyes!!!

 

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (Thanks to Patrick for bringing it to my attention!)

Once Bitten, Never Shy

I have this massive bite wound on my neck.

I had these two scabby, pimple things for the past week or so right about where the neck meets the shoulder. Looked like a vampire had bitten me. Didn't think much of it. Then a couple days ago, they started looking funny and getting slightly inflamed.

I thought it might be a bite, so I went to the nurse here on the ship for some antibiotic ointment. She said to come back in twenty-four hours if they didn't get better. I woke up the next morning ... and they were HUGE!

The redness was spreading across my neck, and the bite areas had developed these white dots in a circular pattern around them. Plus, I now had a third bite that I hadn't noticed before, higher up my neck. They were all swollen. And red. And angry.

I went back to the doctor, and the doctor said a passenger had gotten bitten by the same thing last cruise in Costa Rica.

But, I didn't get off last Costa Rica.

In fact, the last time I had been off the ship was in Jamaica to go to Margaritaville with the cast, and that was over a week ago, and the doctor said that was too long before symptoms began to appear.

So, I guess that means I was bitten on the ship?? I don't know. It's weird.

The doctor gave me an antihistamine for the allergic reaction (basically some Benedryl) and Calamine lotion because, although the bites don't hurt, they ITCH like K-razy!!!

The moral of the story is ... uhm ... don't ... uhm ... watch out ... uhm ... stay away ... uhm ... have a good day! :)

Pet Peeve Time

Do you know what aggravates me the most? What really irks and annoys me?

People who don’t do what they say they’re going to do.

Please don’t tell me you’re going to call or email me if you’re not going to. Please don’t tell me you’ll take care of something if you’re not going to. And please, please don’t tell me that you'll meet me somewhere and not show up.

I understand the occasional episode of forgetfulness. I understand that life sometimes gets in the way of our good intentions.

But I find that, more often than not, people lack the integrity to follow through and actually do the things they say they’re going to do. It’s extremely annoying.

And disappointing.

And disrespectful.

And selfish.

So next time you tell someone you’ll do something, please be considerate and only say you’ll TRY to do it if there's a possibility you may not be able to. Own up to your faults. Be honest about the situation.

Or, better yet, as Nike says ... just DO it.

I Wanna Live Forever

Have you seen the trailer for the new Fame movie? I wasn’t interested at all before. Now I am.

Great trailer for what looks like a great movie. Although, now I have high expectations. Hope the movie is as good as the trailer promises.

High Drama On the Seas

I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it. I’m in shock. Really and truly. We have lost a boy singer.

Dwayne has decided that it’s time to move on and has resigned his position on the Jewel of the Seas.

That leaves us in high water. We currently have no replacement scheduled. Just more rehearsals and reblocks. The cast thought we'd seen the end of rehearsals, but I guess not.

To date — since November, and out of a cast of 12—we’ve lost:

A girl dancer due to injury.
A girl singer due to personal issues.
A boy singer due to ??

When will the madness end?!!!

In other Jewel drama ... we had an accident.

During a tech run, one of our flyers was doing his silk act and his grip slipped. He fell from the ceiling to the stage and had to crawl off. Luckily his pride was more injured than his body, but he still got hurt. He's missing a lot of skin from the left side of his body, his elbow is swollen and hurts to move, and his chin needed about 4 stitches, but he'll be okay.

We had to reblock the show to make some adjustments for him, and his understudy went in to fly for the passenger shows, but now he can rest and recover. He's planning on flying again next cruise though. Crazy, huh?

There’s always something going on.

Pierced

Yes, ladies and gents ... I got my ear pierced. Again.

Some years ago I spent a semester of college in London, and being the cool, hip, trendy guy I am, I decided to get my ear pierced. Not my nose; not my tongue; and not my ear lobe (so passe!).

No, I got my cartilage pierced.

I loved it. Hurt like hell, took three months to heal, but I thought the hoop emanating from the top of my left ear was so cool.

Unfortunately, guys usually aren’t permitted to wear jewelry like that at most jobs (too unorthodox, I guess), so eventually I got tired of taking the thing in and out, and instead let the hole close.

I was lucky, however, and the piercing healed very evenly with a nice break in the cartilage. No keloid.

Flash forward to 2009, when I’ve been thinking about getting the hole re-pierced. I know, so rebellious of me!

So last time I was in port from my cruise ship, I passed by a Claire’s Boutique, and on a whim had the thing redone.


This time it’s a small stud, but I love it just the same. And it’s healed so fast. Basically they were able to just re-pierce the flesh instead of the cartilage for a much nicer experience all the way around.

Does it look stupid? Can I pull it off? I don’t know.

But, I like it, and I now have a piece of metal in my ear.

I’m so trendy.

The 2009 Update

Hola, Bonjour, and Hello! Yes, I’ve been neglecting my blog, and I apologize. I’m still here, but my internet connection has been and continues to be rather sketchy.

So, let’s get you up-to-speed ...

As you may or may not know, after returning home from the Brilliance of the Seas last April, I worked part-time at Disney World for several months. However, I received on offer to return to sea, and I decided to accept it: The Jewel of the Seas.

So, here I am ... out on a boat. Again. AND the itinerary is almost the same as before: Panama, Panama, and more Panama! YIKES!

My contract runs until June 10th. The good part is that before I sign off, the ship transitions to Europe, and I'll get to see some of the Baltic: Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, and Russia. So I'm very excited to visit those new countries.

The experience, so far, has been much different than my last contract with Royal Caribbean.

We began rehearsals in October in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where we had about 6 weeks to learn three shows: City of Dreams, West End to Broadway, and Tango Buenos Aires. The Tango show is the same as the show I did on the Brilliance, so I was happy to already have that one under my belt.

City of Dreams is quite a spectacle with gorgeous sets and costumes. It is by far the most difficult show I've done with Royal Caribbean, but extremely rewarding. Lots of partnering and concert style dance as we travel to the Lost City of Atlantis, Bombay, Beijing, Venice, and even, yes ... Heaven. (Gotta get that club remix in somehow!)

West End to Broadway is an odd assortment of songs from shows originating in London before moving to Broadway such as: Sunset Boulevard, Cats, The Pajama Game, Hair, Chess, Les Miserables, and Barry Manilow’s Copacabana (!).

We even do "Bohemian Rhapsody" from the Broadway smash (that no one's ever heard of) We Will Rock You, the Queen musical. That number is one big acid trip, but our audiences seem to enjoy it.

And, of course, everyone always loves watching the Tango couple from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Always a favorite.

If you're interested, I've posted some show pictures on my website, and I hope to eventually have some video clips up there as well.

The cast joined the ship in November right before Thanksgiving, and we had about 3 weeks of rehearsal onboard before we were fully installed.

Unfortunately, at that time, one of our girl dancers rolled her ankle during "Come Sail Away", our opening number of City of Dreams and eventually had to be sent home for surgery. We were minus a girl dancer for almost two months.

During that time one of our boy dancers had to go home for compassionate leave, so we were then down 2 dancers for 2 cruises. He came back to us, but immediately after his return one of our girl singers needed to go home for personal reasons.

Suddenly our cast of 12 had turned into a cast of 10 ... again!

Luckily, the entertainment office was able to send a replacement singer. At the same time, they also found a girl dancer to take the original girl's spot. So during the last few months, we have had lots and lots of rehearsal time reblocking numbers and then putting new people in.

We finally have a full cast again, and hopefully we can avoid any future injuries or problems.

Now it's time to hopefully settle into some semblance of a routine. I'd like to start working out more, writing more, and figuring out what the heck I'm going to do at the end of this contract ... especially with the current economic climate.

I’ll try to blog more often, but again, internet is difficult out on the open sea.

But please consider this to be a very belated ...

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :)

I voted! Have you?

Being away from home prevents me from voting locally in the upcoming American election on Nov. 4th. However, this election is extremely important. And so ... a few weeks ago I requested an absentee ballot. Today I filled it out and mailed it in to my Supervisor of Elections. I voted!

It’s most likely too late to request an absentee ballot for yourself. However, it’s NOT too late for you to become an informed citizen. Take some time to learn about the issues that concern you and find out which candidate best subscribes to your personal system of beliefs and values.

Whether you’re a Democrat, an Independent, or a Republican, it’s important for you to take advantage of living in this free country and exercise your right to vote.

After all ... if you don’t cast your vote, you have no right to complain about the outcome!

Is God Fair?

Have you ever thought about the fairness of God?

Paradoxically, I believe God actually is fair in that He views all of us equally and that even with all the pain, suffering, and evil in the world, the Order of Humanity makes sense to Him.

I'm not going to comment here on pain and suffering. I believe that to be the disgrace of Man.

Instead (and this is not an indictment of Him), I'm struggling with the fairness of God.

Individual circumstances appear through my miniscule human perspective to be unfair. We’re all born into this world with varying degrees of opportunity. Some people are born into wealth while others are born into poverty which will pave the way to your future: your health, your education, and your overall standard of living. Everything, for the most part, is tied into where, when, and how you were born.


Then there’s ability. The world only has one Barbara Streisand and one Magic Johnson. The rest of us can take lessons, but ultimately, if you weren’t born with the right degree of talent, you just aren’t ever going to become a megastar even when presented with the right opportunity.

Of course, there are exceptions: the little girl with chords of steel who was born into a third world country and will never record a CD; or the famous actor who becomes immensely wealthy but who doesn’t really have the talent to warrant his success.

But in most instances, if you're going to succeed in your chosen field (especially the arts), you must must must already possess the necessary talent.

God places each of us in the world under both positive and negative circumstances. Some people take this as evidence that He doesn’t exist. I don’t. I believe He does exist. I believe He created us. And I believe He loves us all.

I just can’t wrap my head around the apparent unfairness of our individual circumstances. How does He choose who will go where and why? And how? Toss of a die?

Perhaps one day He’ll explain it to me ...

A Weighty Crown

For reasons unknown to me, Royal Caribbean has begun doing weigh-ins. We didn’t have them during my last contract, but now we’re forced to step on the scale on a regular basis. Whatever.

First day of rehearsal, we took our base weight. I came in at 167. Okay. Great! That’s less than I was expecting to weigh, so yay for me!

Two weeks went by, and we did another weigh-in. I thought I would've gained a pound or two from muscle. City of Dreams is all about lifting and partnering, so I figured I was beginning to pack on some major muscle ... okay ... maybe just some minor muscle.

Instead, I came in at 164 and dropped three pounds! WHAT?! That’s awesome! I mean, who doesn’t want to lose weight, right? Especially at my age. Now, if I can just add some major/minor muscle, I’ll be all set. Protein, protein, protein.

In other news ... I have to have my crown replaced. For those of you who don’t floss your teeth everyday: START! A root canal is no fun. The dentist had to stretch my mouth open for about four hours to dig out that damaged root. Yuck!

Anyway, my one-and-only five+ year-old crown has shifted and created a gap which is allowing bacteria to get under and fester. Not a good thing. So amidst my RC rehearsals, I had to go and get fitted for a new crown.

The Ft. Lauderdale dentist then fit me with a temporary crown while I wait another two weeks for the new porcelain one to be created. But guess what? Two days later, the temporary crown popped off while I was flossing, so I had to go back to the dentist to get the temporary crown refastened.


FYI ... I do not have the time to be going to the dentist day-after-day. I'm dancing my little heart out and need to devote the rest of my time to eating and sleeping. So please cross your heart that this crown remains in place.

I’ll just be happy when rehearsals, and my teeth adventures are over. At least I’m skinnier than I was before I began!

Ah, it's the little things ...

Cell Phone Drama

I can’t wait to get a new cell phone!

I currently own the LG Chocolate. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend it. It looks cool, but its functionality leaves a little to be desired. I think the newer version is better, but I was cursed with the first edition. However, the phone was fine. I really had nothing to complain about.

Until last February when I began having major problems with it:

Calls not connecting to my phone ...
Dropped calls ...
Losing info...
Etc.

I went to Verizon (with whom I have received excellent service from in the past) and was, luckily, still a week away from an expired warranty. They agreed to send me a refurbished unit, and I was on my way. Received the phone within a decent amount of time, and everything was fixed. Great!


**Side note** They only extended the warranty another month which is rather unhelpful. What if the refurbished unit is a piece of crap? Then you’re stuck with a lemon!

Anyway ... the new/old phone worked great ... until about a month ago.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Verizon sent me a lemon, however, calls began not connecting to my phone again. I just received missed call notices without my phone ever actually ringing.

And now the battery is utterly shot. I literally get less than five minutes of battery life before the whole phone powers down. I plug it in, and it charges completely within five minutes ... for another five minutes of battery life. I’m pretty much tethered to a wall outlet. My cell phone has, for all practical purposes, become a miniature land line. So much for mobility.

Luckily, I’m eligible for Verizon’s $100 new phone credit in two weeks, and I can’t wait! Let the countdown begin!

And this time I’m not getting the Chocolate!

Gotta Dance

I’ve been in rehearsals for Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas for 8 days now. We finally have a full cast minus one girl singer (whom the casting department still hasn’t been able to find). Thankfully we have all our dancers so we can learn our choreography without having an empty space.

So far we’ve learned:

Welcome Aboard
The Farewell Show
The ABBA Theme Night (all of which, I previously knew)

... and half of our first show, City of Dreams:

River of Dreams ... nice, easy, floaty number
Time After Time ... tricky, but not too bad
Like An Eagle ... the first number of the Bollywood section. Lots of fingers and bent wrists
Every Way That I Can ... same as Eagle but with lots more hip action!
Aria ... BITCH of a number! Fast and furious!
Heaven ... fun club finale.


My body hurts!!! My calves. My shoulders. My biceps. But most of all ... my butt! Too much lunging in this show!

My days consist of waking, eating breakfast, dancing dancing dancing until my brain fries from information overload, hot tub-ing my sore muscles, showering the sweat and chlorine away, eating anything I can find for dinner, reviewing choreography, and sleeping.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

Farewell ... for now

Sorry for my absence from the blogosphere. I’ve been busy.

And now I’m gone.

I left Orlando last night and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale to begin rehearsing for my shows with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. I arrived at about 1:00 am and am now going about getting settled: Unpacking. Shopping for food. Meeting my new cast mates. It’s a lot.

One of the male singers arrived last night, too, so he and I chatted as I was unloading my car. I didn’t get to bed until 3:00am. Needless to say ... today I’m tired. Luckily, we don’t have orientation until 1:45 tomorrow, so I should be able to recover by then.

I’m nursing a sore throat, too, so feel sorry for me. I woke up this morning absolutely freezing. The temperature was set at seventy degrees, and my bed only had a sheet and a paper-thin blanket. Brrrrr!!! I was c-c-c-cold!!!I’ll probably be out of touch for a while. I have limited internet access, and once rehearsals get underway, I have little-to-no energy left to expend on witty blogs.

But, I’ll try to keep you all updated on the happenings. I don’t want you, faithful reader, to feel neglected.

And now I’m off ... to take a nap! Cheers!

ps. I've redesigned my web page, so if you haven't had a chance, check it out and let me know what you think: www.taitmoline.com

The Miniature Earth

The world is big, and I take a lot for granted.

This thought-provoking video shrinks the international statistics into percentages to help us understand the world we live in. Very enlightening ...

The Miniature Earth