Lethal Industry

Another week come & gone, and with great joy to be had. With the meeting of the Brilliance & Voyager back to back on Tuesday & Wednesday, came the opportunity to see old friends. Tuesday kicked off with seeing my former collegues on the Brilliance from the Crew office. Always great to see the boys & girls from last summer. After time with Shervon & Gilbert came the afternoon with Rick & Susie. We made our way down to La Rambla for Sangria and lunch. It was so fun catching up as the last time I saw them was in Calgary on my last holiday. They had friends cruising with them who were on the way back home that day. The sangria flowed nicely and the tapas, well let me just say I am happy that I ate before I left the ship. We planned to go to Sagrada Familia for the afternoon adventure. A short journey up the metro line, after we found the train going the correct direction and a short walk to another line, we were on our way. Sagrada Familia's this make work project that's been under construction for the past 100 years with depending on who you talk to another 30 to 75 years of construction to go. As far as church's go, it's pretty funky. Each side has it's own unique characteristics. The spires are intricate in detail with some very strange statues placed for comic relief. The north side being older has a more traditional look with an organic feeling, the south wall looks more like a fresco as there's statues depicting scenes from Christianity. The top of the spires look more like a Conklin ride, and I half expected to see midway lights going up the sides. The east side looked like it was built in the 80's with it's boring grey concrete look and fruit baskets on to of the spires. Although we did not go in, time constraints, the outside alone was worth the journey. A must see when in Barcelona. Wedneday we met up again in Villefranche for a day in Monaco. The kids were late from the Brilliance as they were in Nice that day, because our fat ass ship takes up the entire harbour. We finally hooked and made our way the 20 mins to Monaco on the train. Our primary task was to gamble in the Grand Casino. That meant dressing up for the occasion. Sadly Dave, our Ass't IT Manager, who joined us, did not have a DL, so they would not let us in. That's okay, we went next door to the other Casino and had fun. I lost 40 euros but got to play Star Wars and Wheel of Gold, a copy of Wheel of Fortune. Following the casino fun we walked the remainder of the Grand Prix course. It was really cool to see everything set up for the race taking place this weekend, and when I watched the highlights last night, I was thinking to myself, yup, we walked there, climbed the fence there, took pictures there. I could only imagine how loud it would have been. We grabbed a beer before heading back to the train, then in the station this short dude was giving away water at a Johnny Walker booth. Low and behold, it was Juan Montoya. Pretty cool. We made it back in plenty of time as Rick had to be back on the Brilliance by 6:00 pm. Getting back early gave me the chance to work on the sound system back deck for the evenings sailaway party that Jimmy, a casino dealer & myself were DJ's at.
I pulled out the decks for the event, and felt great spinning vinyl. Such an amazing feeling playing my new tracks and the classics. It was a fun 2 days seeing Rick. I am looking forward to hooking up when he & Susie come home from holiday.
On the other side of the world, the Oilers are on the verge of making their first Stanely Cup appearance since 1990! Go Oilers Go!
That's all that's news on this side of the pond. Enjoy your weekend.

Straight to number one

We are in Marseille today, amid the cloud and the wind. Today will be spent working onboard and getting prepared for the back deck install. I am hoping to complete the task by Villefranche next week for our first Sailaway party. The challenging tasks will be pulling cable and hanging the speakers. The rest should be fairly easy, although time consuming. I've been offered help from a number of people, so I shall plan to take advantage of the old saying, many hands makes light work.
The boys out did themselves last night in the defeat of the Sharks. The Ducks are next then on to the finals. All good and positive thoughts for that to happen.
Good news from Big Dawg yesterday as he's offered me a job at DHL in the Wharehouse. One of three items on the to do list before coming home. Before that happens, I've got to go to see the Vatican as it maybe some time before I get that chance again, more specifically to see the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's masterpiece. Looking at the dates, I could be home on June 3rd.
That would put me at home in time for the finals, to get ready for Canada Day and of course Stampede. The job at DHL would be nights or early evenings, leaving me open for an afternoon gig or a night job, and plenty of time to fly.
On that happy note, I've included a photo taken on monday in Lisbon by Dave from IT and of course, Go Oilers Go!

Viva La Blog

Another day, another reason to wonder what it's all about? Big surprise today with comment from Cory in reference to the Anakin comment. It was the big talk last year among the many reviews of Episode III. The similarities between George Bush and his war-mongering attitude towards the Iraqi war. A blatent jab at all nations that see through his lust for blood money and the trade of oil. Big ups to Canada and Jean Chretien for saying no to the fiasco in the middle east, the modern day Vietnam. "All in the name of democracy."
On to more happier and lighter subjects. Cory kicked it up a serious notch with the addition of more amazing photos of SexyTeenSandy, and a snap of NextDoorNikki by request. I only wish I was at home to go shopping for records then out to the strippers! It's the little things in life you miss when you are on ships. Tonight's the big night for our Edmonton Oilers as they have the opportunity to finish off the Sharks and advance to the Western Finals. Memories of two years ago when the underdog flames took life to the max! I will make the prediction, Oilers & the Whalers in the finals! How great would that be? As much as I would enjoy seeing an all Canadian final with the Senators, let's be realistic. And if that happens...europe will be the last place I cheer for the Oil!
Today's a day at sea, and my morning's entertainment revolves around episodes of Viva la Bam and the desire to be somewhere else other than here, on the Voyager. Now the big question will be how to make this a reality? Our chief purser has "retired" and leaves tomorrow and sets off on a new journey, so good fortune to Paul. And to myself...Do what Wayne would do...Party Time Excellent.
Yesterday, I saw Africa. No lions, Zebras or tigers, just rolling hills and fog. Kind of like Europe on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltor.
That's all for now, an uneventful Waynesday, although staying true to my blog, the Wayne of the week goes to the aforementioned Wayne Campbell, best known for his low budget cable show from Aurora, Illonois, Wayne's World.

Getting Closer

With Just over a day to go, I am feeling more at ease with out move to Europe. We face many challenges when make the crossing especially with the possibility of big seas. As much as I would love to see what this mighty ship can do with monster waves, I am hoping for smooth sailings. Rough seas makes day to day life unneccessarily challenging and very stress for the crew, and myself. Saturday I am off to world famous South Beach to satisfy my Black Crack habit. I took advantage of a few hours in San Juan yesterday to shop for vinyl. Picked up a few tracks. Picked up 7 new tracks, including the new Madonna, Deep Dish and a remix of Vogue! Long live the 80's! On a positive note, yesterday went by smoothly. From the dinner to the All crew party, all went well. A few hiccups to work on for next time, although, I've got to admit, I need to work on my communcation with management. I need to rally more supporters to the cause to make my life easier. From life on the ship, to the real world, my anticipation for the Battle of Alberta fell short as the Flames were eliminate by the Ducks! There will be no partying on the Red Mile this year, however the Oliers are still in it and going all the way! We've got a good chance against the Ducks. On a different topic of sorts, I made a foolish error in judgement and misread on of my schedules. The mix up took me to a place that I rarely go and to have the pleasure of talking with a young man who lives by the word of God. Though I am not a believer in Christian Dogma or religion, I always find it interesting speaking with these people. The young man was trying his best to convince me to read the bible and to convert me. He spoke in absolutes and when challenged on this, he had was uable to defend his statement. Echoes of George Bush, Hitler & Annikan Skywalker rang in my head. "You are either with us or against us!" He was unwilling to see a world beyond that which he knows. Though my knowledge of Christianity is limited, I have taken the time through the years to attempt to read the bible, and try to find truth in the stories. Most of which are disproved by modern science. I accept people look towards religion as a means to understand or justify the world they live in or existance, however blind faith makes me question that person and what their intentions are. The stories that are shared do have relevance and set a standard for moral conduct in today's society. Okay, enough with that, religion takes a lot out of me. Good news, I've been contacted by Russ on the EX. I am hoping he can copy some music for me!
Losing my hard drive sucks ass! time to go for a walk. Go Oiler's Go!

Battle of Alberta

We've done the improbable and advance to the second round of the playoffs after knocking off the number 1 team in the league, only in points. I knew it from the beginning of the year when the discussion was of how easy the Wings season would be against the teams in the Central Division. With 50 points between 1st & 3rd place, did the Wings actually play hockey this year? The answer to that is no, with a lost to the Oilers who made it into the playoffs with 95 points. Boo hoo Wings. Go back to Motor city and enjoy your golf season.
On to more important issues. The battle of Alberta has finally returned after what seems like decades, it's back on! The return to the days of yor! Don Cherry's going to have a field day with this one. GO OILERS GO!!!
Down here in the Caribbean we are 4 days away from making the Crossing.
Everyone's a little on edge, with all that's happening on and off the ship. The recent mass exodus has brought the challenge of new employees along with mixed emotions of the crew still remaining. We've been hit with a Hidden Camera investigation by Inside Edition, not so good there, and in light of what happened last summer, we are looking like the bad guys. They are on holiday! Let them drink themselves stupid! Maybe the report should try Carlos & Charlies in Cozumel at Spring Break. Sensationalism Journalism...anything to make a buck. A few more days and nights of hard work and it's time for some rest. Way too much work in April. Hopefully it will pay off in May & June.

And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh. Nietzshe