A Barking Dog

2006 or 1966?

Originally uploaded by Dave Stevens.

Hockey puck… Stardust comes down @ end of year.

2006 or 1966?

Originally uploaded by Dave Stevens.

Hockey puck… Stardust comes down @ end of year.

It’s been a while since the last post. A couple of weeks for the Moblogs and forever for a text post. Having BBEdit not work on a Mac Pro didn’t help though it’s OK on my PB. Frankly, after using a quad core Xeon Mac everything else pales in comparison. Compound that with not being able to Moblog the new gig and not knowing what I can blog about the new gig adds to the absence. And last but not least, I’ve finally started dating again. The last time I was doing this was about a decade and a half ago. Holy shit…

The new gig, well, is awesome. And I’m not just saying that because one of the bosses reads the blog. I’m the new guy, starting at the bottom and working my way up, though in the age and experience category I’m up there with management. In fact, of the 200 plus on the show (cast and crew) I’m one of the gray beards. And I can remember back in the day when I was the youngest guy on the gig. My how times change, particularly for us old farts. Oh well. It’s an interesting environment where I’m guarded in what I say. In the touring rock biz we had a bit more latitude in what we said and how we said it. For example, where someone to do something backasswards on the rock tour, the response might be ” are you toally fucking new?” Here, it might be “I question the rationality of your judgement and would have reached a different conclusion”. Though in the bowels of the SOMP (the little room in which I perform many if not most of my tasks) we’re still able to say amongst ourselves, “dude are you new?”

It’s a good bunch that I work with at the swankiest resort on the Strip. Unlike the last tour leg I did. The leg with jazz singer and guitar player that sits (though he’s not sitting these days) was an absolute pie fight. I loved my hommies (sp?) with jazz singer, but other crew was wack. So much that after the first few dates, I started riding on our band bus instead of the production bus. The so called production manager didn’t really have a handle on things, though sometimes he was too hung over to make it in on the call time. I guess it helped that he was the significant other of the tour manager of other band. At times it was an embarassing display of unprofessionalism. Those that know me, know I cut much slack in this department. These guys (and gal) were so over the top it was difficult to look the other way. Glad it’s over and at least the bonuses afforded me a neat new computer and pair of studio monitors for it.

And that brings me to the delima. What can I post? I can’t Moblog as cam phones and cams are verbotten in the theater. They made sure to tell me during the orientation. Technically I’m not supposed to have one in the building, and if I do, it should have the cam function disabled. Blogging like I have on tour isn’t going to work. The tours didn’t mind it, but I’d bet these folks would. It’s too bad, because I think a good tech blog would be good for the show. We aren’t talking about some cheesy Vegas show, it’s one of the most high profile, technically advanced shows not only on the Strip, but in the biz. And it’s moving and sexy. Speaking of sexy, why is it that the last four women I’ve dated only share two names? Never had that happen before. Of course, the roadie side of me says that it’s easier to remember the names that way. Well, you can take the boy off the road, but you can’t take the road off the boy. To those that are thinking of living the show biz touring life style, don’t do it too long or take it too seriously ’cause it will warp your mind.

So, what to blog? The dating is right out because it’s NC17 and a couple of my dates wouldn’t approve. The gig? Don’t know yet what’s appropriate except for general observations. Vegas in general? Yeah, sure but there are people better at that than I. I did buy a full pass for ETS/LDI and I’ll blog that (manufacturer types, I haven’t asked you yet, but I need another five passes for my department) It took about five times longer than I had thought to land the Vegas house gig but I should be able to blog something that works for all of us. I just haven’t found that yet.