February 2005
 Palooza photo shoot |
Let the ’05 Festival season begin!! It’s Time to start the new season off. We’re safely in Arizona and have a few weekends under our belts. This month will be dedicated to Palooza ’05 and, also to performing and working out the bugs in our new show "Captain Morgan and the Island Queen"
Let me tell you something about Phoenix, "The valley of the sun." Three weeks into the show and we’ve only had one weekend of sun. The first weekend was drizzly and overcast. The second weekend’s Saturday didn’t open due to flooding from the previous days rains. You see, (for those of you not from AZ) the ground there isn’t used to great amounts of moisture so when they gets heavy rains all the water rushes into the valley through the washes and creates flash floods. Oh joy! The following Sunday was still wet and crappy but at least we had a few people in attendance.
Normally, the desert valley is mostly brown with the occasional cactus and indigenous plant. But, this year the desert floor is a lush green carpet of various plants and wild flowers. It’s actually quite spectacular but of course a downer for those of us taking a financial beating. We had lots of trips planned for this season in Arizona but we’ve pretty much shelved them due to a lack of funds.
 Trip to the Pharmacia |
So far, the only trip we’ve made is a quick hop down to Nogales, Mexico. It’s about 2-1/2 hours south of the festival site. It’s a good place to pick up silly little souvenirs and inexpensive alcohol. Plus, you can get some amazing Mexican food. The food’s not nearly the oxymoron it is here in the states. Riki and Sarina joined us this time. Sarina was looking for knock-off purses and Riki was looking for a new bullwhip. In addition, Sharon and I had to make our yearly visit to the Pharmacia. She had to get her birth control pills (at $20-$30 for the entire year) and I had to pick up some Zantac for my Palooza stressed stomach as well as some other odds and ends. Medication is 1/3rd to 1/10th the price it is in the states. It’s crazy what the pharmaceutical companies are making off us hard working, over medicated Americans.
Don’t fret my caring friends; all is not misery and strife in Tortuga-land. We’ve debuted a new show this season. It’s called "Captain Morgan and the Island Queen." It’s going over very well. Like all of our new shows, with time it’ll be tight and fun. Right now we’re just trying to remember our lines. And since we rarely rehearse, it makes for quite a bit o’ fun for everybody.
I wish I had more fun stuff to tell you about but all of our free time is being devoted to Tortugapalooza 2. There’s so much work that goes into a production like this. All the writing alone is a constant project. Then there’s all the video production, still photos, song writing, props, costuming, lighting, sound effects, advertising and ticket sales, just to name a bunch. This years show is gonna be a blast, but the last few weeks leading up to it are always stressful.
We’ve gotten much more high-tech this year. We purchased our own broadcast quality production video camera and a matching high tech tripod. We also have a computer programmer on board that’s generating some VR effects for us. I don’t want to give too much away but we’ve really kicked things up a notch this year. You’ll be pleased to know there will be a lot more live action in this year’s Palooza. It’s written much more like an actual play with a storyline.
As usual I’m a little late getting my Journal into Andy for posting but we’re in contract negotiations with two different shows in the middle of all this Palooza stuff and I still need to figure out a way to spend a tiny bit of quality time with my wife. A fact I’m not sure the guys always understand. But, I can tell they’re trying. I’m working on a supplemental January journal about the wedding shower that Sharon threw for her best friend Tiffany. Hopefully I’ll have that up this week as well. Sit tight you guys. Good things come to those who wait.
 Trying to look like a cowboy |
 100 pesos = about 10 dollars |
 Oh, the cow-manity |
