Amos and Puck

As a young boy growing up in suburbia Kentucky in the mid-west you are pretty much in conflict over yourself from the moment you hit puberty. Am I a momma's boy or dad's boy? Am I a Wildcat's fan or a Card's fan? But this story isn't so much about where I was brought up, rather what my surrounding were. For most children you have a simple revelation at an early age that will grow and define you for the rest of your life. Are you a dog lover or a cat lover. Some of my friends had both dogs and cats, and therefor they got the best of both worlds. The companionship of a dog through thick and thin following you, sometimes leading you through the woods off on some unknown adventure. And the mystery of a cat, often perched high atop the refrigerator scoping out the scene trying to find just the right opportunity to sneak down, avoiding the family dog, to brush up against your hand hanging off the side of the couch and slowly maneuver it's body into your lap only to find you petting it continuously for hours while you caught up on a rerun marathon of Alf. For myself however it wasn't quite that simple. From a very young age I was exposed to dogs only and when you are 5 or 6 years old you don't really think much of this. My Gamma would tell me stories of her childhood dog friend, who would travel with her to school. Would wait outside the schoolhouse for her to get out of school and then walk her back home in the afternoon. She continued of this childhood dog getting stuck with her in the snow and always finding her when she needed guidance as a child. These romanticized stories at such an early age would be held dear to me even to this day. The thought of being a dog lover still wasn't at issue and I just went about my own childhood with my 2 best friends. In my case it was Brooke and Toddles. Both dogs were of course the beloved family pets to a very normal, run of the mile, suburb household. Brooke was a mutt of no distinction other than she loved to growl and get into fights with other dogs and sometimes humans. Toddles was a beautiful long coated collie that had the heart of gold. She would follow you around the house through thick and thin. Toddles was the type of dog that would be the first person to go into your pillow fort made up of every pillow in the house, that you spent an hour or so setting up to make it just right to play with you and laugh with you. And she would also be the first dog to arrive on the scene in that same pillow fort when you were crying your eyes out from whatever had caused you to start crying in the first place. Much like any child of 5 or 6 having two amazing dogs to run around with and explore with there was not enough time in the day to ponder, am I a dog person or a cat person? The question had to come much later in life, despite the fact that mom and dad were both very much dog lovers. At the age of 9 it was determined, as had been determined in my father many years to my junior, that I was also highly allergic to cats. And again, as a kid, these sort of questions don't really come to mean much of anything. I had already decided at a young age that I loved dogs. I never had any idea that my fathers allergies and now my allergies had pigeonholed me into becoming a dog lover. As a child, one just never puts much thought into these sorts of things. Man did my life ever take a child related turn when i was indeed highly allergic to cats. To be honest up until the age of 9 I had never even spent a single moment around cats. Had never taken the time to pet them, had never enjoyed there soothing prrrrr as they settle in next to you. Cats to me were very alien and much the reason why the topic becomes such a polarizing issue. Some people just aren't meant to be around cats, they are unapproachable, quiet, withdrawn, and moody all characteristics dog lovers would tell you why they would never own a cat. And much the same, the dog is very needy and compulsive and dependent and that too are valid reasons why cat lovers never entertain the idea of owning a cat. For most people this isn't even a topic and the thought of even putting it into words is a silly conversation. For the simple fact that cat lovers and dog lovers don't even think twice about who they are. Most people, except my best friend Jon. Jon wasn't much of a dog or cat lover, but just that his family had both. As a young kid going over to his house was much a hassle, but you don't just stop going over to your best friends house! Not going over to your best friends house at the age of 11 is like committing suicide on said friendship. That friendship just meant that i would have to be aware of the surroundings i was going into. And many of days and nights were spent with scratchy throats, watery eyes, itchy eyes so bad you want to claw at them, stuffy noses, tiny little hairs stuck in your nose you want to pick your nose for hours just trying to get at that one hair stuck to the inside of your nose. It really was that bad. And that would be the end of the story. My life would have continued as normal as a dog lover, obviously. Growing up and on into adulthood i have had no additional interaction with cats. Infact, I have spent most of my adult life avoiding cats, constantly washing my hands when around cats, intentionally not touching the cat. And actively going to friends houses for super bowl parties and the like in full fear of encountering a cat. My life was full of dogs in every aspect. And much like my mom and her mom, when the time finally came I got 2 adorable and amazing dogs of my own, Maggie and Rufus and my life was complete. Or so I thought. You see life has a way of introducing to you obstacles that you don't really for see coming. Minor issues of course, that really have no need to develope. I had dated woman from time to time and always said in the back of my head "look out for those cat-loving woman". And it wasn't a concrete thought, but was at least a fore thought. What was never really thought about was that middle range of person. The type of person that my best friend Jon was, that was really on the fence. Not as much a dog or cat lover, but more just an animal lover in general. In the summer of 2012 on a warm and relaxing night you could feel the cool air blowing in off the ocean. A typical southern California night, much the same that you would encounter on any night. And as i walked into the Covell wine bar on Vermont street not much was thought about as to if i was a dog lover or any silly notion like that. One just cannot and does not think about these things as you are walking into meet a girl for the first time. We talked for hours in that wine bar and when the night had run it's course I asked her if she wanted to head to the beach to further continue our amazing night. So we went down to the beach and set up a quiet little picnic blanket under the boardwalk on the Santa Monica pier. And over the next hour we just lay there and enjoyed the waves crashing in and that cool, relaxing ocean breeze driven California night. I would say it was at least 2 or 3 weeks before i finally had the chance to make it over to her place. And in that time frame my mind had nothing to do with the fact that i was highly allergic to cats. So in I walk into her apartment and bam. Though she had told me she actually had 2 cats within the first few hours of meeting her, who really puts any thought into THAT when you are meeting an amazing woman for the first time? And so my mind drifted, over months and many days I now had to come to grips with this. Does a relationship come to an end over some cats? How do you deal with being allergic to cats and now you are spending all your time, literally 24/7, with a girl that has loved and cared for and can't be separated from her 2 cats, Puck and Amos. Days went on and on and slowly, eventually I found myself coming to the conclusion, I was fucking screwed. She's not going to pick me over her cats, nor should she have too as I am as much a lover of animals as she is. I understand the bond one has for their pets and how much they bring joy and happiness into ones life. As Megan and I depart on what will be the next defining chapter of our life I have really come to love those cats. She may not even know it yet, but I personally have already vowed and written the next, unknown paragraph of this story. I am ecstatic to unleash my love for her and share it with those 2 cats. Never before had I even considered I would move in with a girl that had 2 cats, but it is going to happen. And it is going to work. Though with some separation from the cats, the idea of living with the cats has completely left my mind and because of my love for this woman I am ready to take on the responsibility of caring for something that I never cared for before. And that to me is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. The fact that 1 woman has shown me that love has no boundaries, I feel unleashed, and ready to love whatever comes my way. Matthew 6-20-13

Things To Do in VEGAS

Hope this is helpful to some of you coming to Vegas. Let me know if you want to know my favorites.

Things to do in LAS VEGAS According to Matthew

*Vegas Strip (North to South)*

Stratosphere: Rides at top(fee), Top of the World Restaurant(try for lunch, rotates 360)
Largest Souvener Shop: Best place on the strip to get cool stuff
Circus Circus: Free Circus Acts every half hour, Theme Park-Adventuredome
Peppermill: Nice 1970’s restaurant w/ fireside lounge
Wynn: Casino Canopies, Parasol Down (with 50’ waterfall and nightly shows), Porsche Showroom
Treasure Island: Siren Show (nightly every 1.5 hr, worth skipping)
Palazzo: Live statue Art, Registration architecture
Venetian: St. Marks square, canal rides (fee), canel
Mirage: Entrance is cool, Sig & Roy Secret Garden (fee), Volcano(every hour after 8pm)
Bellagio: Registration glass, conservatory, Art Gallary (fee), Cahuli gallery shop, Fountains(every half hour)
MGM: Lion Habitat, Vintage horse race gambling game
Mandalay Bay: Mix Lounge (nice view of strip from South), Shark Reef (fee)
Silverton: Mermaid Show

*Off The Strip*

Freemont Street- Nightly free outdoor shows
Golden Gate: .99 cent shrimp cocktail
Nugget: View largest gold nugget, pool and shark tank
Sam’s Town- Laser light show
Rio- Show in the Sky (every hour), wine cellar
Other/Random: Leberace Museum, Vegas Mob Museum, Pinball HOF, Ellis Island(cheap beer, great BBQ)
Awesome Restaurants: Hash House a GoGo, Capo’s Italian, Hawaiaan Mkt. Place Indian Restaurant.
Transportation: The Duece Bus (all day on strip is $7), Monorail (Runs behind Eastside casino’s)

*Cirque and Other Shows*

O, Mystiere, Ka, Viva Elvis, Zumanity, Le Reve, Believe, Penn/Teller, Jersey Boys, Garth Brooks, Lion King, Cher, Celine Dion, Love, Defending/Caveman, Carrot Top, Blue Man, Haunted Vegas, Fantasy(A), Thunder/Under, Menapause, Phantom, Mob Tour, Rat Pack, Crazy Horse(A), Jubilee(A), Bite, Chip/Dales, Tony/Tina’s, Lance Burton, Barry Manilow.

You Had to Be There

Hola!!!

SO i have to start this blog by thanking any of my readers that still check back in on my blog from time to time. Clearly i don't have the discipline to write a blog every week or even every month. But i do find a certain relaxation and clairty in finding the time to write out things in my head or just use it as a forum to vent frustrations of everyday life. And oh course, i love telling you all of my excitement and fun i have with my current jobs.

So this blog may quickly turn into a long, rambling mess because as of persent i am sitting in the back of the Encore theatre babysitting the designers and technicians for the Beyounce event we have going on here. It has been a 8 day marathon for myself, but the show it self is 4 evening performances. As billed, it is "an intimate up close personal look at one of today's hottest star's". Beyounce, as we all know started performing at 9 then joining the group Destiny's Child and launching her solo career.

Getting back to the work aspect. So currently I am working full time on Cirque's KA at MGM and it has turned into a great experiance. I am enjoying it enough to both challenge me and keep things on the edge to where it doesn't get old. And i took this week off, so that i could do this Beyounce show. I went Sat at 1230pm into load in for this on Sunday at 9am. And up until today (Friday) working 14-19 hour days. Crazy in the long run, but nice on the wallet. I estimate my hours worked to be about 130 this week(OT after 40)!!! Uhh, you are telling me!!! Currently, hour 87. So right now i am dreaming of next Monday in which i will be doing the following: sleeping endless amount of time, eating sushi, drinking something involving Makers Mark, getting a manicure and pedicure, and laying by the pool!

...Come monday, it'll be alright. Come monday, i'll be holding you tight...

I am working hard trying to solidify myself within this theatre and hopefully have it turn into a fulltime job! So the Beyounce show has been a great experiance. Beyounce is a wonderful performer and you can tell that she really cares about the production she is putting on. The show involves a 20plus band with full strings, brass, 4 percussionist, and keyboardist. It really is a wonderful setup. And Beyounce has full costume changes with full choreography and see SINGS every song. Frankly, i know this holds no weight to any "old school" musician/act, but as far as performers today. SHIT. that is top notch. I will save you the my rant on why all performers in today's day and age suck, but needless to say, Beyounce is bringing it to the stage "old school"!

So the show startes with her band playing and the audiance in anticipation to Beyounce's entrance. Only behind them, coming down the aisle, she startes to make her leasurely entrance unexpected. She is singing her song "hello" and begins to greet all aisle seated guests, very laid back, no security, no big arena, just in an intimate 1500 seat theatre. After spending 2 mins or so walking down greeting everyone she gets to the stage. House-right there is a 20ish kid going CRAZY for her. And she startes to play it up towards him, singing directly to him and getting on her knees to sing. He is going crazy in excitement. And as she sings "Hello" 10 or 15 times.... every time... he waves at her franticly back at her. It really was one of those moments you had to be in the crowd to witness. Perhaps the true breakdown of a mega-popstar and her fans. And for that reason, the tickets for this production are priced at $1000-1500 a POP. And that isn't even the half, the kicker is that you MUST be staying in the Wynn or Encore Hotel for 2 nights, in order to buy the tickets. How is that for good business???

Apartment Hunt

Alright, so if you don't know, Amelia and I are on the hunt for a new apartment. Mainly tring to get closer to the strip (our job), not have to deal with nearly as much construction or traffic, and find a nicer neighborhood. What do you think? Everyone should comment!!! Seriously, comments very helpful. Oh, the move is September 20th, so we also expect you to help us move.

Desperado in Primm, NV

I have always wanted to do this!!! Enjoy the Desperado in Primm, NV. It goes up to 92 mph and is about 2 minutes long. It took me 3 tries to get it right (or at least to this point).

Bryce Canyon

I don't think i ever posted photo's of our wonderful trip, but here is a great video i shot.

A Great Night In

Back around Janurary or so, Amelia and I spend a few hours playing on the WII. This is a video i made. HURRY AND WATCH IT, before she makes me delete it. HAHAHA.

Memorial Day

About 3 days ago, my buddy and I were headed down to freemont street in Vegas. To enjoy some time at my favorite casino and 99cent shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate. And as a tradition, it is fun to go and watch the live light shows that they have overhead, every hour on the hour. Well, normaily they have shows by Queen or Don McLain. I enjoy watching them and then moving on with my evening.

However on this night, the show that was played was Trace Adkin's "til the last fires shot". And as it started it really didn't dawn on me the upcominig weekend or just how patriotic Freemont Street, of all places, was about to get. Now i should have known, having just worked the ACMA's where this song was played live. But anyways, as the song startes we see working and active duty military type in different images scanned across the Freemont mega-video screen. And within seconds row after row of name after name fill the screen of all the military we have lost. (I don't know if it was just from the Iraq war or every war) And the saddest part of it all. In the middle of the video screen is a counter. A fucking counter. That is spinning through thousands and thousands of numbers every minute. And if you watch, it is though you are looking at the milli-second hand of a watch. And there it is just spinning and spinning away. It got up to well over 30,000 thousand before i had to turn away.

Disappointed partly cause i didn't get to see a cool Freemont Street video show and just out of pure sadness. I mean what kind of show was that? Do i need to be reminded that people die in our militrary. And further more, how about all the other countries military's around the world. No one is sad about them losing men and women in battle!!! So as I am walking away, the show comes to an end. And unlike what would normally happen, where the streets go crazy and everyone is happy they saw a fun rock song video. No one is clapping. I mean NO ONE. It was just the most depressing moment of my evening.

And having seen that and now it is Memorial Day i just have to say. What the fuck is memorial day and WHY! WHY do we celebrate the death of people fighting in a war???? Isn't that just a LITTLE morbid. And further, isn't it a little prejeduce and wrong for us to only celebrate US military involvement. Again, i say. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY!!!

Anyways, i received this article from my uncle (thanks Jamie) regarding Cindy Sheehan's own thoughts on memorial day. You don't have to agree with what is being said here, but it is just something to make you think and perhaps realize that people dieing is never good for anyone or does it acheive liberation and bringing freedom to anyone!!!


The Day of the Dead
May 25, 2009
Cindy Sheehan
I was on an airplane flying to Orange County from Sacramento to attend the al-Awda Conference; which is a Palestinian Right's Conference. Al-Awda translates to "The Returning, " when the Pilot's voice filled the cabin to make an announcement that I think went unnoticed by most of my fellow passengers, but I heard it.

As the plane was on the approach to John Wayne airport, the Captain came on the intercom to remind us all to "remember our brave troops who have died for our freedom." Even in this post 9-11 paranoid paradigm, if I wasn't belted in for landing, I would have popped out of my seat at 13D and charged up to the cockpit to let the pilot know that my son was killed in Iraq and not one person anywhere in this world is one iota more free because he is dead.

As a matter of fact, the people of Iraq, the foreign country thousands of miles away where my oldest child's brains, blood, and life seeped into the soil, are not freer, unless one counts being liberated from life, liberty and property being free. If you consider torture and indefinite detention freedom, then the Pilot may have been right, but then again, even if you do consider those crimes freedom, it does not make it so.

Here in America we are definitely not freer because my son died, as a matter of fact, our nation can spy on us and our communications without a warrant or just cause and we can't even bring a 3.6 ounce bottle of hand cream into an airport or walk through a METAL detector with our shoes on. Even if we do want to exercise our Bill of Rights, we are shoved into pre-designated "free speech" (NewSpeak for; STFU, unless you are well out of the way of what you want to protest and shoved into pens like cattle being led to slaughter) zones and oftentimes brutally treated if you decide you are entitled to "free speech" on every inch of American soil.

If you watch any one of the cable news networks this weekend between doing holiday weekend things, you will be subjected to images of row upon row of white headstones of dead US military lined up in perfect formation in the afterlife as they were in life. Patriotic music will swell and we will be reminded in script font to "Remember our heroes," or some such BS as that.

Before Casey was killed, a message like that would barely register in my consciousness as I rushed around preparing for Casey's birthday bar-be-que that became a family tradition since he was born on Memorial Day in 1979. If I had a vision of how Memorial Day and Casey's birthday would change for my family, I would have fled these violent shores to protect what was mine, not this murderous country's. Be my guest, look at those headstones with pride or indifference. I look at them, now with horror, regret, pain and a longing for justice.

I can guarantee what you won't see this holiday weekend are images of the over one million Iraqi dead. Say weassign, in an arbitrary way for purely illustrative purposes, an average height of 5 feet for every person killed in Iraq and then lined those people up from head to toe. That gruesome line would stretch from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon…950 driving miles up Interstate 5. If we count the Iraqis who have been forced to flee, we would have to go back and forth between L.A. and Portland another four times.

There are obscene amounts of people who have been slaughtered for the US Profit Driven Military Empire who do not count here in America on any day. People in Vietnam are still dying from the toxins dumped on their country by the US, not to mention the millions who died during that war. Let the carnage escalate in Afghanistan while we protect our personal images by turning a blind eye to Obama's war crimes. Are you going to feel a lump of pride in your bosom when the coffins start to be photographed at Dover for this imperial crime of aggression? Will you look at those flag-draped boxes of the lifeless body of some mother's child and think: "Now, I am free." Is it better to be dead when Obama is president?

A tough, but real, aspect of this all to consider is, how many of the soldiers buried in coffins in military cemeteries killed or tortured innocent people as paid goons for Empire? To me, it is deeply and profoundly sad on so many levels. If I have any consolation through all of this, I learned that my son bravely refused to go on the mission that killed him, but he was literally dragged onto the vehicle and was dead minutes later before he was forced to do something that was against his nature and nurture.

Casey will always be my hero but he was a victim of US Imperialism and his death should bring shame, not pride, as it did not bring freedom to anyone. I will, of course, mourn his senseless death on Memorial Day as I do everyday.

However, we do not need another day here in America to glorify war which enables the Military Industrial Complex to commit its crimes under the black cloak of "Patriotism."

>From Palestine to Africa to South America, our quest for global economic domination kills, sickens, maims or oppresses people on a daily basis and about 25,000 children per day die of starvation. I am not okay with these facts and I am not proud of my country.

I will spend my reflective time on MD to mourn not only the deaths of so many people all over the world due to war, but mourn the fact that they are the unseen and uncared for victims of US Empire.

My 2 favorite comedians!

Man, thank fucking god! Thank you Wanda Sykes. Thank you for saying all the shit that most Americans don't have the platform to say it on. If you haven't seen Wanda's address on the White House Correspondence dinner, you must!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RJLli-3Lzk





And also, Lewis Black, who is by far my favorite comedian of today and age will be in Las Vegas at the end of May. So i entertained the idea of going to see him. His tickets are goddamn 200 dollars. Are you kidding me. Lewis, are you fucking kidding me?

Anyways. Short blog. Pissed at Lewis, but man did Wanda hit this one out of the park!!!

So much to say, so little motivation

I am trying so hard to keep all my loyal readers up to date in my current life status. But i have to say when i am in the states and distracted so easily by, well life, it is so hard to get online and post. I have alot of ideas for some blogs, just haven't gotten around to them. Maybe that would bring some peace of mind and sanity to my life if i could actually sit down and write on a regular basis.

Anyways... first off. China. Yep, i said it. As it appears the possibility of going to China may have come around again and I may be interested to see what this leg of "sound of Music" would hold. I know i know... here you are reading the very same blog that has appealed, disguised, and made you think you may never want to step out of the US again, but somehow it has a hold on me. It's weird having been to a country that is in your mind so half as backward, weird, and absolutely stupid, yet at the same time there are so many things to love about it. I have been recently thinking of all the Chinese sayings i know, and if i would ever get the chance to really use them again. Needless to say, alot of things have to fall into place for me to be back in China (say around September) and if it happens, you will surely get to read more about it.

Currently i am working on the ACMA's. The Country Music Awards. It is pretty exciting to enjoy a 10 day run of a show, and it kinda reminds me of actually being on tour. I have worked 12 hour days for the last few days, and starting Thursday we will be in rehearsal for the rest of the week. And i know what you are saying, but Matt "it's only a 3 hour show." Well clearly the technical directors think differently. In fact, just today i spend almost 2 hours in the "storage shed" which is the entire 1st floor of the MGM parking garage sorting cases and organizing all the UNUSED gear. It should be a fun event, and you should watch it cause your's truly will be running one of the spot lights. Now, originally i was suppose to be one of the backstage truss spots. It is a pod that has a light on it that moves vertically from 10' to about 50' in the air... that i control and hit the performers from the back. So i would love to tell you that if you were watching it and i was still doing that, you might catch a glimpse of me on national tv. However, i am too tall to do that, so you will have to settle for knowing i am in front of the action and making everything brighter.

If you haven't heard, Amelia is leaving me for 3 months. Yep, i am very sad cause she is the love of my life and distance will never change that. But alas, she is heading off to (somewhere in New England) to do some summer theatre. I am so proud of her, she is going to be Stage Managing and working backstage on the entire summer season at Shakespeare and Company. It couldn't be a better experience for her, and she and I couldn't be at a better place in our relationship that i am more proud, than sad to see her go do this. Truth be told, I was called and offered the Master Electrician/ partial Lighting Designer for the summer season there, but decided that it wasn't right for me. First off, no matter how i fight it I am not much for Shakespeare. Second, I will make better money here in Vegas and not to mention having no place for our stuff, i am staying here. I am working alot on Danny Ganns in June/July/August, so that will really help. And 3rd, i am still attempting to find some sort of FULL TIME job out there. Somewhere, as frustrating as this has become.

Next update. It just so happens that a tour buddy of mine, Jake, is going to be coming out to live with Amelia and I pretty much until 2010. It couldn't have happened at a better time for us, since Amelia will be gone for a bit. And we were thinking that the 2nd bedroom was not being used enough, for us to be paying for it at least. So this should be fun.

I will leave you with this tid bit.

So now that i am doing alot of conventions out in Vegas, it is really interesting to set up the actual "corporate events" and "business meetings" for large companies like you here about ALL over the news. Well, honestly, i have to tell you. Corporations waste there goddamn money on big conventions regardless of how horrible the economy is or if they are indeed bankrupt. 2 points in case...

Hmmm, lets call them Dome Hepot that happens to be a large home supply nation wide retail company that is almost bankrupt. I did a 4 day load in for them to load in there corporate event in a huge convention space in Mandalay Bay. OK. First off ( ME= $20 an hour times 8 hours times 4 days times alot more workers (like 60)= A SHIT LOAD OF MONEY. Even to start. You add in that they put in over 2000 feet of truss just to hang about 200 lights (this is excessive). And the only reason... was to have 20 pool tables at the event and a stage for Blues Travelers to play. WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY THINKING!!! I truly wanted to photocopy the lightplot that had 20 lights around 1 pool table and mail it off to President Obama to personally view... before giving them a few billion dollars.

2nd Event. I worked a Specialized Drug Convention where like 50 of the top drug companies gathered in Vegas, so that they could all get together and have some pep rally for how to sell there drugs to you. I wasn't at the actual convention, but i did have the time to see the power point while setting up lights. Just a few highlights. One line said "60 percent of Americans uninsured, we don't need national health care, we need specialized health care". And another, " Specialized health care is well intentioned, we just need to reach the right market.

I'm just saying... the government needs to stop giving away our money, and we need to let all these shitty, greedy companies go down... out of business... bankrupt. Once the market levels out where it SHOULD actually be at, then we can start fresh.

THAT, is the American way.

Sometimes you weep, sometimes you dance.

A few saturday's ago i had the oppertunity to work a 21 hour day. Yep. how exciting you are asking yourself. Well it wasn't so much the hours that made it an eventful day, but believe me with as horrible as the Las Vegas entertainment world is right now, i wasn't complaining about that. It was the event i was working. There was one reason that i pushed my self through a 21 hour day. That reason is none other than the Piano Man himself. Yep, Billy Joel.

So at 6am I began my day loading in for Billy Joel. The load in ran until 3pm. I then jetted to my 2nd job which went from 3pm-10pm. And to finish off the day i loaded Billy out from 10pm to 3am. Fun right? So if you are a young, aspiring stagehand the answer is. JUST SAY NO!

Anyways, the reason i was able to get through this day is because i love BIlly Joel. I think he is by fare the best live entertainer and am just blown away by how well he can entertain crowds of 20,000 all by himself.

Often times when we take on a "load out" call, it means showing up to a still performing act. You have the Jonas Brothers, Blues Travelers, and such that you could really give 2 shits about. But Billy Joel!!!! As a side note, i have to just say here that I am cool as a cucumber when it comes to working backstage. I would never step out of line, take a photo, or shot someones name. In fact, about 3 years ago i was working a Rolling Stones concert, just hangin backstage waiting for the show to end. We had about 30 mins before the show was over, and i was asked to stand by the loading docks. It just so happens that the loading docks are right next to 3 limo's, so i sit tight and enjoy the rest of the show backstage. ... Can't Get No Satisfaction...Can't Always Get What you Want....Jumpin' Jack Flash... It's great. Well the show ends and out walk the Stones. They all walk to seperate limo's, mind you. And right as Mick Jagger is getting into his limo, out of nowhere this dude sitting right next to me that i had shared maybe 10 words with shouts out "Mick, YOU ROCK MAN!!!" I wanted to murder the dude. Anyways, you don't pull stupid shit like that when you are waiting to work for the band.

So back to my 21 hour work day, I am racing back at 945 pm to get to the load out of Billy Joel. As i had said i was so excited to do this load out. I get there and check in and am assigned to my local roadie for lighting. He walks us backstage and tells us to hang tight before the show is over. And begins to explain to us what he is wanting us to do when loadout startes. Now i can tear a rig down without instruction. Here is what I recall...

alright guys A bottle of red, a bottle of white It all depends upon your appetite so we have about 30 mins Cold beer, hot lights My sweet romantic teenage nights before the band is going to be Brenda and Eddie were thePopular steadys And the king and the queen Of the prom done and exit the stage. Brenda and Eddy were still going Steady in the summer of '75. They have about 5 songs to go. But there we were wavin' Brenda andEddie goodbye. You guys hang here They couldn't go back to The greasers The best they could do was Pick up the pieces and then we will hit the stage the second that Billy walks past. That's all I heard about Brend and Eddie Can't tell you more than I Told you already He will walk right past you here and get in his limo. A bottle of red, a bottle of white Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight. I'll meet you anytime you want In our Italian Restaurant Cool? Alright i am going to step outside and grab a smoke. Its nine oclock on a saturday. The regular crowd shuffles in Ill be right back. Alright, so why don't we go over a few things for load out.Theres an old man sitting next to me, Makin love to his tonic and gin Moving Lights go upstage He says, son, can you play me a memory? Im not really sure how it goes But its sad and its sweet and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger mans clothes place the truss Sing us a song, youre the piano man, Sing us a song tonight. Well, were all in the mood for a melody And youve got us feelin alright source four pars will be hot Now john at the bar is a friend of mine. He gets me my drinks for free. And hes quick with a joke or a light of your smoke, But theres someplace that hed rather I want you guys to grab the boxes over there with the carpet in them and take them upstage. Now paul is a real estate novelist. Who never had time for a wife And hes talkin with davy whos still in the navy And probably will be for life. And the waitress is practicing politics As the businessmen slowly get stoned. Yes, theyre sharing a drink they call loneliness. But its better than drinkin alone Then we are going to put the lights in the crates and place them back where you got them at outside.And the piano, it sounds like a carnivalAnd the microphone smells like a beer. And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar. And say, man, what are you doin here?


As you can imagine. I didn't catch a single word of what i was suppose to be doing, come load-out. But i guarantee i was singing every lyric of Piano Man. Yes, sometimes my job rocks!!!

And to top it off, when the concert was over and 20,000 fans are screaming for "Mooooooooore" and "Encoooore", who is standing next to his car, waiting for him to get in and drive away. Hell fuckin' yea!

And yes load out went great and i had caught everything i was suppose to be doing.

Beating the Status Quo

So recently if you haven't heard, i have been without a job. Not totally without a job, but definantly without a full time job. I was working full time at Danny Ganns, when they decided they only wanted or could afford 1 lighting guy. Thus, i was number 2, and had to be released. Now prior to this I had just started to think that things were looking up becuase i no longer had to depend on the part time- on call stagehand work i had begun to do in Vegas. Well having felt i was secure in my job at Danny Ganns, i would then turn down the on-call work i still got phone calls for.

Now that i am no longer full time at Danny Ganns, i have spent the last week calling all my previous employers to tell them i am still in need of the on-call work. It has been a hard adapting process, cause you never know when your next day of work is going to come. Thank god Amelia got put on a 5 day run at the MGM Grand and a 4 day sit down run of Thomas the Tank Engine.

So anyways, waiting for the on call work to start picking back up, has left me with alot of free time on my hands. It really gives you the amount of time to reconsider where it is you want your life to go and what is next for you. I have spent alot of afternoons in the Panera around the corner of our house (because the internet is free) surfing and searching for what might be next in my life.

I know it may seem odd for those i last toured with to understand that i am seriously considering touring again, but really it is the life i know. As much as i am enjoying being off the road, having moved to Vegas has just added alot of uncertainty and frustration into the picture. So alas, i sit and try and reevaluate my lifes worth in Panera.

Its hard tring to pick up on call work and be told that you are the most qualified or perhaps overqualified stagehand that Vegas has ever seen. And i am not one to be cocky, but it is so frustrating to be told that there just arn't any current positions open other than on-call positions.

At any rate, i try to get up every day and be positive. One day a door will open.

I've seen the look of a heart-shaped turtle dove.

So i know i haven't posted much lately, thought i would take a few minutes now to put up a new post. Alot has been going on in my life and out in Vegas.

For one i now have a fulltime job at the Wynn on the new show -Danny Ganns. So i have been putting in shit tons of hours getting the show up and ready for production. We did almost 2 months of install work and are just now getting into the technical rehersals. The show opens February 6th, so if you make it out you should totally check it out. It is a great production and Danny is great at what he does. If you arn't familar with him, wiki- him. It is a combination of musical numbers with comedy and vocal imatations of 100's of musical artists and celebrity's. Having sat through about 100 hours of the show thus far i can tell you it is worth checking out.

So there are pro's and con's to this new job at the Wynn. It doesn't pay the best and provides no health insurance, but the fun things are that on the 3 days that Danny is not performing we bring in various musical artist.

The reason I have the time to write to you now is because i am currently in the middle of Harry Connick Jr performing onstage. It is nice cause I am basically here to make sure the system doesn't go down, and yet i find myself in the best seat in the house enjoying Harry and listening to his sillyness. Seems to be a nice guy, very on point and always about business. So along with sitting closer to the stage then Harry's security guard.

In the house tonight is Donald Trump, Steve Wynn and wife, Siegfried and Roy, and various other Vegas entertainers. The dogs came in around 4 pm to sniff out the place and make sure no bombs were on site.

One of Harry's jokes to the audiance.

Harry: Steve, can't i play in this theatre when Danny isn't on stage and then i will go serve sandwichs when i am done to make some extra cash. I mean, you have all these beautiful restaurants here, but you also need a little white trash place for a man to grab a sandwich. I already turned down Donald Trumps request to come serve white trash food in his casino, cause he is into that stuff. But you Steve, i would do it for you. What ever you want, just give me a job!!!!


So thats about all i got. I am awaiting to here back on some other future jobs, and i am crossing my fingers for a few in paticular. Just have to be patient

Reunited and It Feels so Good!!!

So this was the scene, when my friend Michelle and I flew back into Macau after our vacation in Thailand. We had to take a shuttle that was at 6pm... only to sit in the Hong Kong airport for 14 hours before our flight back to the States at 9am the next morning. So we were lucky to find some cushie seats and a lounge that gave us free internet.

They also had a popeyes, which tasted delicious after spending 3 months in Asia.. So tasty!

Chloride, Az

So Amelia and I are both fascinated with "Ghost Towns" of the west. We did a little research and found some around Vegas. Chloride, AZ is just that. It was one of the first major boom towns due to the silver found in the mines up in the hills from the little town. They had a couple decades of mining silver and then it ended before like 1900. So we did a little exploring of our own and ate in the old-fashioned restaurant in town.

The place was a little touristy, with its "old west" false-front town and weekend gun shooting competitions. The town is also very famous because of a western known artist that did alot of rock paintings up in the hillside.

Lake Mead and Grand Canyon

REALLLLY!

So living the domestic life has proven to be challenging, fun, exciting, busy, boring, and new to me all at the same time. Amelia and I are trying really hard to eat out as little as possible and cook fresh and healthy meals for ourselves. It works some of the time, other times we are so bored in our apartment we consider it a luxury to get out of the house and try a new restaurant around Vegas. And still sometimes Amelia and I just have difference of taste buds and decide to eat our own meal.

On one such occasion, Amelia decides she is going to have peanut butter sandwiches and bean soup. We'll, separately, i wouldn't mind either of these. But my lovely girlfriend has come up with her own way of eating them. She enjoys dipping the sandwich in the soup. Well, as much as i love her, i think this is disgusting. Oh well, to each there own. Love you baby!

Vegas or Bust

So this is the blog of my planning and trip out to Vegas. I spent almost 2 weeks, going through all of my belongings to determine what i would need and should go with me to Vegas. If you could have seen my mom's basement it was packed to the roof in about a 10ft by 10ft space of all the crap i have collected over the years. At least 20 rubbermade bins of crap from my mom's old house that she moved from in 2003, xmas gifts from the last 5 years, unopened boxes that i had shipped home from tour over the last 5 years, and lots of other shit.

Unfortunatly the Gumby slippers didn't make the cut.
It was a long 3 days traveling out to Vegas and some scary moments with my 12year old truck attempting to get over the mountains with the uhaul we were pulling. We were pretty excited to get to Colorado and stop at the visitor's center.
We stopped for the night an hour outside Denver.

The next day we traveled through the beautiful mountain roads winding through Colorado. Then we spent the afternoon an in Utah. Night 2 we stopped off about 6 hours from Vegas. On day 3 we spent another 3 hours in Utah, then 2 hours in Az, and finally about 2 hours in NV to arrive in Vegas.

It was a busy, wild trip but we had alot of fun and happy to arrive in our new apartment.

Game Night- Part 1

In all of our boredom around the apartment, one day Amelia and I decided to have game night with a little Jinga fun. THAT GIRL IS IN CRAZYTOWN!

Our New Apartment

Finally, I give you some photo's of our apartment. Unfortunatly the one of our bedroom didn't turn out well, so i will have to get more up later. It is a 2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom. Here is our den and tv room w/ fireplace and walk-out patio.



Attached to that is the kitchen and small eating area. Next to it we have our own washer and dryer (SO NICE!)

Then we have the 2nd bedroom, that is currently just storage. Attached to the 2nd bedroom is the 2nd bathroom. Should you be able to come visit us in Vegas this will be your "High Rollers" suite!


And finally our bedroom (no photo) with our master bathroom and our walk in closet. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing it is to have a walk-in closet!