Sorry to rub it in...

Glow worms!




















But this cruise has been AMAZING weather-wise. Absolutely perfect temperatures, and the seas have been very kind. We are in our final port of New Zealand today, Dunedin, which is home of Cadbury (one of them, anyway.) As is my luck, I found myself walking down the street and then all around me appeared people marching and playing brass instruments. There was a parade! All in my honor... okay, maybe not, but I liked to think of it as an "homage".

The video stuff doesn't seem to be working in my favor, so I will try once more.

Okay, I waited for half an hour... nothing. I give up. Maybe when I get back to the states the connection will be better and faster.

Tomorrow we are in Fjordland... and then two sea days, and then Mom and Dad come!!! Whoo hoo!!! 42 days of the Orient! I am very psyched.

One to go!

Hard to believe that six months have come and gone already. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting with Lormarev in my dining room setting up this account joking about Cabaret and other stuff... I miss you, Lo!

So, to keep it short and sweet, not to mention that my internet budget is running on empty, I will try yet again to post the videos, and here are some of my pics from this last week in New Zealand. I start the 42 day Asia Cherry Blossom cruise on the 3rd of March, and then it will be home around April 16th! I am so excited to see Mom and Dad, and there will be some fun stories and surprises for them on the cruise... but I'm not giving away any of my secrets. You'll have to stay posted here. Miss you all, and love ya, too!

JM

What's New, Zealand?

Not much to report here. Mom and Dad got approved to come on the Cherry Blossom cruise, that is Asia and all places between. Should be fun! I am very excited to see them and share 42 days in a small enclosed place with them! Hope they are as excited as I am!

Only kidding, Ma! I am anxious to see you. (And Dad)

Thought I would post some videos of last night's show... these are just snippets, so I apologize for there not being an entire number... but this is what I have been doing for the last six months! Enjoy!

Okay, so the video is taking forever... here are some pics instead.

Dunedin... twice more

Then on to Asia! Hard to believe the contract is almost over. Seems like it was just yesterday I was struggling to get through rehearsals. And what am i going to do when I am done? I have no idea. Hopefully find a job that will enable me to continue to pay my bills. We shall see.

Thought of going to see Nine today, but it is such a beautiful day I don't want to go sit in a dark room for the whole time I am in port.

Shows have gone well so far. We did Tribute for the past two nights, which is not my favorite show, as most of the free world knows by now. But now that i can actually get the choreography, it is kinda fun. Still don't like it, but it has fun moments.

Not much really to say today, I am going to post some more pics, so enjoy. I can't wait to eat at a Chik-fil-A again!

More less than interesting pictures of stuff

Stuff in Auckland, New Zealand.

Oh, which reminds me, if any of you devout blog followers want some souvenirs, now is the time to let me know... send it to my email address: jbeech2@nc.rr.com and i will do my best to accommodate. It will depend on my budget, but I will do my best to bring you back a little something from my travels. Love ya!

One other thing I forgot in my last post... this past cruise was pretty much a planning disaster. A bunch of us wanted to go see the movie Nine, which finally came out here last week. So, we looked online for the theatre where it was showing in Tauranga. Again, rain. We carted our little butts off to the theatre, only to find that it wasn't at this one, but the other one downtown. Ugh. So, back in the rain, carting our little butts off to the other theatre. We get there, get in line. I go to order my ticket, and it is sold out. Okay, how much fun is that?

So, i went back to the other theatre and saw a late showing of Paranormal Activity instead. My sister would have liked it, but it was pretty dumb. Great up until the very last frame of the movie. Then I wanted my money back. I could have written a much better version.

Okay, I am off to send my play to Paul. See ya soon! It's almost over!!!

Well, that was rough!

The seas were rough, the shows were rough, the entire cruise was, well... rough. Chris Kirby our casting director came on board this cruise, to see how we were doing. Needless to say we had our ups and downs. It was nice of him to come out and see how things went, but in my opinion, it was about two months too late. We only have three cruises left, for goodness sake.

In other related news, the owner of the company, the big PGT himself, Peter Grey Terhune is coming on board for part of the Asia trip. Well won't that be fun? He is also coming on with Stephen, our "musical director." Ugh.

We DID receive our first standing ovation last night, while Chris was in the audience, so it felt good knowing that we can pull a great show out of our butts. We were all very tired, as this week we also put in the new girl to replace the one who was fired last cruise. She did amazingly well, considering she only had hours of rehearsal. Her name is Alice, she is from England, and she is blonde. She also has big... let's just say she looks good in the costumes.

In Sydney today. Raining cats and dogs. Didn't start out that way, just kind of opened up the skies and all this water came falling out.

I saw glow worms this cruise!!! It was so cool. Took my first excursion to some cave somewhere in the middle of somewhere else, and inside the cave were these glow worms. They looked like little blue stars on the ceiling of the cave. Very cool. As it turns out, the worms themselves don't actually glow, but an enzyme in their... well, poop, glows when oxygen hits it. So we actually saw glow in the dark worm poop. The world is amazing, isn't it? Imagine if we all had glow in the dark poop...

So. Other news. My filling fell out a while back, and now the nerve is exposed, sending jolts of pain throughout my head. Not good when there is no dentist on board, and I have no insurance to cover any work I have to have done. The ship won't cover it because I am a guest entertainer. In other words, a self-employed contractor. That sucks. Hopefully I can make it for the next couple of months and then spend all my savings on getting a root canal! Oh what fun!

So life is a neverending bunch of interesting situations that try us. Well, try me, anyhow.

Here are some pictures from this past cruise, I think... enjoy. I couldn't take pics of the glow worm poop, so I did the next best thing and just took pics of my own poop. KIDDING!!!