A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup

Listen Up!
Yup. I missed last week's post because I knew this week's would make up for it. Wow, that's a lame excuse. Whatever, after this week I REALLY won't feel like writing anything, but it'll be worth it. :: SO let's start with my employment status. Universal Talent I'm calling for jobs, and there's a few of them, I'm just looking for one that will actually be on my schedule (as in when I'm in town, and not Thursday). Also, the Machine Shop I'm officially employed at has moved me to "we'll call you if we need you" status not because I'm a bad worker or anything, but they're really low on jobs themselves, so they have to keep a profit margin somehow. Also, I'm really looking for juggling gigs this summer, seeing as how I've finally got a planned show that will actually be good this year. My other performances beforehand basically being almost entirely improvised with no music or jokes (bad idea). :: Life isn't really all that exciting for me otherwise. I'm usually just sitting at home now and planning things for the CeC club over at MCC. No classes and little work = huge amounts of free time with nothing to do. :: What else, uh, I've got another batch of photo's for DeviantART coming up soon, so keep an eye out for that, no saying when it will be done though. :: Jugglers On Juggling is coming back. More on that later. ::

Daily Life 1: LIVE DIGGNATION!
So FINALLY Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht (plus Hippie Glenn, David Praguer, and Brian Brushwood) found an excuse to come to NYC and perform a live episode. It only took two years, but they made it. Well worth the wait. So let's go in a timeline of the day because I can't think of any other way to organize all the stuff that happened that won't sound like a hyped up chick on MTV.

Starting the day, I pack up all the stuff I need to bring with me, including my illuminated Dube clubs, 5 rings, 3 boxes, camera, and cell phone. Oh, and before I go forward, let me tell you that if you're looking for a set of illuminated clubs, don't get the Dube ones, they break way too easily and I spent the entire night before trying to get 2 of them working again for the show. I'd made plans with a bunch of the Computer Club members to meet at my place and then we'd all bus over to NYC and Subway over to Brooklyn for the show. So Nick shows up around a half hour early like he said, and we both figured he'd be the only one to bus over with "group 1", as Gordon and Marv were both taking the train in on their own schedule. So at 2:15, right as we're leaving for the bus stop right outside my house, I see another truck pull up and literally someone else (whose name I can't remember for the life of me right now) jumps out the passenger side and joins the group. He said he's just gotten to reading the email about an hour ago, and thus he barely made it.

So now, the plan (which took at least 2 hours to come up with a few days before) was that we'd grab the 116 bus from Sewaren right to Port Authority Bus Terminal, then grab the A or C subway line from there to the Hoyt terminal. From there, transfer to the G line and ride it up until the nearest station to Studio B (where the show was to be held). All in all, not an expensive route at all, in fact costing about 20 bucks total, but it took at least an hour of travel.

So we get there early, because I know that there was going to be a huge turnout, and since we didn't get a GIANT venue like either the Javits Center or the Hammerstein Ballroom, that it'd be packed and people may get turned away. So we got there about an hour and a half early for the show, and the line is pretty decent already. We hold the spot for Gordon and Marv, and when they show up, surprisingly, Danny (Gordon's brother) was there too. So now everything was done and we had a LOT of time to kill. So what happ3ens? Well, people ask me to juggle. So simple enough, I jump to the edge of the sidewalk and improvise a routine, which works out nicely. I get cut off though when the line has to be moved to the opposite side of the door, and Danny, being the photographer that he is, notices the absolutely BEAUTIFUL red wall across the street, and we both come up with the idea to do an improv juggling photo shoot next to the wall. That was probably the best thing to happen in line for EVERYONE. Because I was entertaining the crowd, which everyone could see me from across the street, and Danny and I were getting some REALLY great shots. The best part was when we went to get a shot of me jugglig 5 balls with the camera underneath. The only way to get the shot we wanted was for him to lay down perpendicular to the wall and me standing over him. THAT was awesome, seeing aqs how I know the crowd, I knew they'd think it was funny as hell, and I ham it up. That probably got as big a laugh as most of the jokes in the show, and we got some great shots from it.

But besides the line, I caught Mike there, as well as a few other guys from the Rev3 meetups, and said hi to them, plus a few people I hadn't seen in a while. Other than that though, there was a DJ in the club all throughout the night, and he was especially vital during the time before the show, and me and Gordon were sitting there for the most part cringing when he made a bad transition and applauding when he found a great mix. It was an interesting inside joke that I'm not sure whether I'm lucky or not to be a part of. I find I can't really enjoy a DJ anymore, but that's a rant for another day.

So now the doors are open and people start pouring in, and I find out EXACTLY how small the venue really was. It was just a standard lounge, and the only great part was that there was a few steps to the railings where the bars were, so some of the people could be there. But overall, we found that we could sit near the DJ booth on some of the subs and see just about everything. I never got to perform onstage like Mike said he might be able to have happen, but it didn't matter too much. I was juggling inside plenty and people saw me,and I started getting fans outside of the Revision3 meetup gang. One guy even bought me a drink (non-alcoholic because I still have 5 months). Awesome.

The show itself was great, and seeing Brian Brushwood do a fire eating performance + blockheading beforehand wasn't a bad deal either (even though I could basically do half of the stuff he did, but I don't mean to brag). Kevin and Alex managed to ham it up nicely and there were a couple great stories, and it was good. The only thing I regretted was that I couldn't get the chance to meet either of them because the show was supposed to start at 6 but actually started somewhere around 9, and we had to leave in order to catch the subway to the bus back to my place. I'll manage to grab them next time, because I know for a FACT they'll be back again, especially because of the success of the show.

Daily Life 2: Trip To Florida and Back
I didn't tell anyone about this, but me and my dad had a big trip to Florida to bring back stuff from my Grandma's house along with her car back to Jersey. THAT was an interesting 4 days to say the least. So step one, fly down to Florida on Thursday the 5th (the day after Diggnation, so sleep was in short supply). We took the train up to Newark Airport, and Maglev to the baggage check, where I learn that he's booked us on a JetBlue flight, Awesome! The second best flight service available right now (the first being Virgin America, but whatev). So I was pretty happy right there, we jump into the terminal, through security (which wasn't bad at all that day), and hang out waiting for the plane to open up. Now, my biggest apprehension about this trip was the same as any other trip. Not being able to get to the internet for more than 48 hours. That always bothers me, because I live my life through the internet, to put it simply.

So the flight was great thanks to Jetblue. I found a great new band while I was listening to the "Ethel" station on XM called "Metro Station". They rock. But besides that, we got to the airport and our ride literally pulls up right as we were exiting the building. So we get back to Grandmas old aptmnt in Florida and clean out the fridge, the jewelry and all the other stuff we needed to bring, and I get the sleep that I desperately needed.

Day two. Wake up and immediately we're off. We're driving up to Myrtle Beach and the new house that my parents bought to retire in, in a car that has nothing but good AC and an FM radio+cassette player. Needless to say, when I wasn't driving I was either sleeping, trying to fall sleep, or discussing my ideas for world domination with dear old dad. So we spend the ENTIRE DAY driving, and we get to the new house 14 hours later. It's night, so we immediately turn on the AC and electrics, eat a pizza at the place next door, and go to sleep.

The next day was the fun day, when I got the chance to check out the new Hard Rock Park down in Myrtle, and my dad went off to browse at giant HDTV's and stuff for the new house. Since I know you really don't care about the specs of the TV or how much of a pain in the ass it was to mount on the special mounting thing he bought, I'll talk about Hard Rock Park. It's a great place, especially for it being it's first year it's a really nice park. Single circle layout, with the classic lake in the middle, and a few really big standout things. First was the dark ride in the "British Invasion" part of the park. Normally I hate dark rides, but I'd heard a little bit about this one not being designed to scare you, and I was intrigued. What it does, it's basically a half dark-ride, half walk through, but it's all done while you wear 3D (polarized, not the cheap red/blue) glasses. It's basically meant to replicate an acid trip, and it was awesome. If you're ever in the area, you have to try it. The next big thing was the giant foam ball room. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it was the best thing in the park. It's basically a giant room with a catwalk around the outside, which has pneumatic cannons designed to fire foam balls around. The only downside is that it doesn't sound anywhere near as fun as it is in text, you just have to try it. So the last thing that I thought was great, was the "stunt" show, which was really a circus show. It was a really well made show with trampoline acts, high wire stuff, trapeze, and a few other circus arts all blended into a show. It was good for me because it's something I like to talk to the performers about afterwards. And that's Hard Rock Park for the most part. The coasters were good, but nothing overly spectacular.

So the last day was the trip back home, and we'd decided that we'd leave early (like 4AM early) and hit Paramounts Kings Dominion (another theme park that I'd been itching to go to for years) for a few hours. Oh, but did I mention, there was 90+ degree weather and it's a HUGE park? SO the drive there wasn't bad, I slept a lot of the way there, and when we arrive, I step outside the car and nearly pass out right there from the heat. I did manage to get on a couple really good coasters before we had to leave because of the heat, including the "Stunt Track" coaster they had. That HAS to be one of my new favorite rides. Basically, it looks like a wild mouse coaster, so on the 1st run, my dad decides to jump on it too. It LIM launches straight onto one of the tightest and most intense series of moves I've ever seen on any coaster. I won't go into details, but right from the start, it had a hugely intense set of helixes right up to a bunch of banked turns that throw you around like you wouldn't believe, and then comes up to a braked section with a short fire show and stuff, then a big series of banks in a dark tunnel, finally ending with a couple hills for air time at the end. It's absolutely insane, and I'd definitely recommend that if you don't mind a nice headache, go for it.

So after that we manage to swing onto the highway and head back to NJ and get there surprisingly early, ending the trip and leaving me with 30 new emails in my inbox to take care of.

Juggle This:
So I've finally sold off my old Airflites. They've just been sitting in one of my drawers for way too long, and I figured someone else could put them to good use. We'll see how I do without them.

Not sure what's going on with my next [Juggling] series video yet, but I am working on a few things right now. One is a series of tutorials for Cigar Boxes and other tricks that I'll put up on youtube when they're ready, and the next season of Jugglers On Juggling. Yes, the podcast of doom you thought was dead. Well, I'm bringing it back, and this time I'm putting a LOT more time into planning than before. I've already gotten 2 episodes outlined and I just have to record them and do them, but I'll be holding off on the release for a while. Like I said, I'm really planning these out, and my big plan is that once every 2 weeks I'll have a new episode ready. I'll have a lot more details next week about the upcoming shows.

NEXT WEEK'S POST:
I'll be talking about the new season of JoJ coming up. I'll also be reviewing Wii Fit and maybe Boom Blox.

A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150