Skiing at Belleayre

So, we left wonderful Newark after having beer with Evan at the Airport Marriot.

We downed 54 chicken wings... (still trying to figure out how many chickens gave their lives for our hunger...)

Rick and I drove up to his cabin just about 5 minutes from Belleayre Ski Mountain. It was about 15 degrees when we got there, so it took a while for the wood stove in the cabin to warm the place up. I slept in the main room right next to the woodstove so, I was toasty warm all night.. Rick.. not so much. 51 Degrees in his room.. 11 degrees outside. It did not bother me all that much.. in fact.. I slept all night never being able to empathize with how cold it was for Rick.

So, we got up around 9:00 am and went into Margaretsville for a quick breakfast.

Then back to the cabin to get out ski gear and off to the mountain. 

It warmed up to almost 40 degrees... the sun was beautiful and the sky was so blue you wouldn't have believed it. Sunday afternoon skiing, late in the season.. hardly anyone on the mountain... just an epic day!

We got back to the cabin and the wood stove has been doing its job all day. We walked in to a cozy 80 degrees and the smell of Chili cooking in the crock pot all after noon. Who is living the good life? 

These Guys!

New York New York!

I arrived in Newark around 12:00 and was in the city by 1:00 pm with no problems. The client sent a Lincoln Navigator which was beautiful all leather interior. I read a magazine that was for the International Jet Setter.... I am considering renting a yacht that I saw in the magazine that costs $140,000 for a week, but I am just not sure when I will get the time.

I got a Gyro from a street vendor for lunch. It was tasty although a bit greasy.. what did I expect?

The setup went well. We got the rooms earlier than anticipated, but ended up being held up buy a lot of people trying to figure out the room set. We are mostly doing audio for this gig. We have 8 wireless mics that we sent into a mic splitter and then back to our console for the PA, and the second ISO feed goes to an 8 channel firewire interface and is connected to a Mac, where the video guys are recording an 8 track feed. The level adjustments are a bit dicey... but we are working through that. It seems as though it is all going to be good. Just a lot of tweaking. We finished the setup around 9:00 pm and then went to a great pub called the Old Castle Pub and Restaurant. We sat at the bar and I had Chicken Francais which was just amazing! Back to the hotel by 10:15 and off to sleep for a 7:00 am call, and an 8:30 show.

The show is supposed to end around 3:30 so just 5 hours left.

Off again!

Well, after a restful few weeks at home, I am off to New York to do a small two day show. I land around noon, and we start the setup around 1:00. Should make for a busy day!

After the show, Rick and I are going to head up to upstate NY and spend a few days at his cabin up there, and maybe even get to ski. I haven't skied in over 5 years, and I can't wait to get on the slopes!

Home Sweet Home

The show went well.. everyone seemed happy for sure!

Went to dinner at the Zen restaurant with Scotty and Eric. The food was good, and the laughs were a plenty.

I slept really bad, and woke up at 3:45 am. That was it for the night.... Hopped in a van at 8:00 am and arrived at the airport by 8:30. I am sitting in the gate blogging away using the AT&T wireless aircard.

I should get home by about 2:00 pm and then I am home till the 28th. I am excited to take a break!

This has been a good month with almost 16 days billable including China through the end of February. However, it is time to relax and get healthy.... kick the cold, and get ready for April, and.... Thailand! That's right Bangkok. I have to do some serious research on that. I have no idea what I am in for, but I am excited!

 

EDC Training

This time is a bit different for us.  Usually we provide all the laptops as well as the Internet access. This time, Pharmalink provided the laptops and technicians to set them up. We provided WAP's and managed the connectivity. So, a lot less to worry about. Everyone is happy, and the session is about to begin.

Escaping the Rat

So, being in Orlando and working at a non Disney property is an interesting experience.

We are at the Omni Orlando Hotel at Champions Gate. This property is in a town called Davenport Florida, just outside of Disney. The effect of the Rat (mickey mouse) not being around is profoundly calming. It is about the first time I have worked in Orlando and not wanted to shoot someone after the first day.

The Hotel is nice.. 4 Diamonds, and it is a golf resort. No kids running around in flip flops with mickey ears. The work is the work... Nothing insane about it. Just normal show.

 

Orlando

So, I got home from New Jersey finally. I woke up the next morning, completely bed ridden with the flu. I spent the whole day in bed, with the chills, and a splitting head ache.

Woke up this morning, feeling a little better, and got on a plane to Charlotte, then on to Orlando.

Met with the client, and then went to my room and slept all day. Met Scotty for dinner, had a soup and a salad, and now, back in bed. Hopefully I can kick this by tomorrow.

Chicago

Chicago is just plain cold.... sitting in O'hare.
Freezing.

Jersey...

So, the Sheraton was ok... not flashy.. kinda old.. but clean and close. I suppose that is all you need when you get stranded.
I tried to get good sleep but ended up waking up around 2:30. wide awake!
so, with about 4 hours sleep under my belt, I am sitting in Terminal A Gate 17 in Newark and wondering if they are going to cancel my flight to Chicago. Thats right... Chicago! I have to fly from NJ to Chicago, and then Chicago to Greensboro. The other option was to fly from Newark to Charlotte, 70 miles from home, then hop on a plane from Charlotte to Washington DC, then from DC to Greensboro. I said no thanks.

The 6:00 am flight to Chicago has already been canceled, so I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. But it is Newark after all.. and United on top of that.. so all bets are off.
There were so many flights canceled last night, that when I came into the airport this morning, there were people sleeping all over the place.. floors, tables. It was crazy, and I am glad I got a hotel while the getting was good.

I am feeling ok right now... but the Chinese Jet Lagg has been a formidable force to reckon with and I am not sure when it will let me be!

Stuck in Jersey

I checked into my flight in Newark, and they took my bag... gave me a claim check.. I went to the gate, and hopped online to make sure my flight was still on time. No problems there. Then I find out... Whoops... flight is canceled.. nothing till tomorrow... just unreal... thanks united.
so, I booked a hotel room through Hotels.com and am at the Sheraton Newark Airport... romantic eh?

I will say this... the AT&T wireless aircard rocked for me today.
and lets see... the Hotel has satellite TV which isn't getting any sort of a signal... maybe I will just crank out the USB HDTV Attenna, and watch some high def...

it pays to have cool toys that become tools when you need them!

New York New York

I am here in New York City doing a show at the Intercontinental Barclay. It is nice to be in Manhattan at a super nice hotel living like I have the money to stay at a place like this!

The local company that provided the gear is Staging Horizons out of Long Island, and they are really great! Chris the Staging Horizons tech showed up right on time, and rocked out the setup like a mad man... We worked with him in Chicago on a really difficult show and he was a rock star then as well!

The setup went smoothly... no problems. Some minor changes to the room set, so we had to rip up some tape and move some cables, but no worries.
My friend Frank who lives in the city came over in the pouring rain and had a few drinks with Scotty and I, and then we went a couple blocks away and had some good old New York Pizza, a real treat for me!

It was great to catch up with Frank... He is doing well and enjoying his life here in NY, and that makes me happy. I just wish I got to work with him every now and then.

The show goes from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm with a 1 hour lunch. Then we strike some gear and are off to the airport. I will be in Greensboro around 11:15 tonight. I am heading off to Orlando on Tuesday... my second least favorite place to do shows, the least favorite place being Vegas.

Today should go without incident... the worst thing that has happened, is that Scotty got back to his room last night and the bathroom was emitting a nasty sewage smell. So, he called the MOD, and they gave him a new room. We helped him carry all his stuff over to the new room, and the problem was solved.

Thats all I got for now....

Check out the look on Michael's Face!

I was cruising through my photos and just had to post this series!

Michael's face says it all.

Tailor Time!

We went to a market where there is just a ton of clothiers.

The 5th floor had bolts and bolts of fabric everywhere. We negotiated a price for some suits and sport jackets, and we were just about to shake on the deal when Tamara waltzed in. She immediately went to work on them and saved us a ton of money! We ended up buying wool/cashmere blend suits that you would see for about $1000.00 in Brooks Brothers or Johnston Murphy, Custom tailored for each of us, all for 800 rmb. That translates into about $114.00 USD it really was crazy. These people will take your order and measurements at 8:00 pm, and deliver the suit to your hotel room 35 minutes away and do a fitting for you to ensure that it fits perfect, by 10:00 am the next morning! All for $114.00

I don't even know what to say about that... except for THANK YOU Tamara!

Rob got a couple of really cool Chinese style sport coats with the turned up straight collars. He will be rolling Big Daddy style when he goes out in LA with those on!

Rick got a Suit and 3 Sport coats all wool cashmere 180s blend for about $350.00 and you could tell he was a happy man!

We finished our suit shopping, and went to a Tapas resturaunt called Mare. The food was good, and the conversation was excellent as well as the company... We were all so tired, we hopped in cabs and took off back to our respective hotels, where Rick and I finished off a great evening with a Chinese Beer and a Glenmorangie Scotch. 

I took a car from the hotel to the airport at 5:30 am this morning. It was an Audi with Leather interior, so, I wasn't complaining for sure. Hopped on a flight and I am now sitting in the ANA club in Narita Japan. Surfing free Internet and eating free food. Again.. I can't complain.

the next flight is pretty long, Japan to San Francisco, so I intend to spend a lot of time editing all the photos that I took this trip so I can upload them to the website once I get home. I have uploaded some of the photos to my website in a low rez format because the internet connection was so bad at the Shangri La. 

Here is the link to those.

yellowshirtproductions

Thanks to those of you who posted comments on the blog. It is nice to know someone is reading it out there!