Block Head 2 - My Plaster Head Cast

Voila! My plaster head cast:

(Click to enlarge/pop-up)

This is what the makeup dept. at Cirque du Soleil uses in case they need to make changes to my makeup, a head piece they want to add, or any voodoo they wish to perform. It keeps me from having to physically be there and sit around. Plus, it's much prettier and even-tempered than I am. "He" almost looks like he's smirking, doesn't he?

Block Head and Downtown Montreal

On Wednesday, Cirque had me doing a lot of things throughout the day - things that you don't normally get to do every...you know...your normal production-prep-type stuff...fitting for an outfit, shoe size, physical exam, setting up meetings, covering your head in plaster to take a plaster cast [insert tire-screeching sound here]. Yes, they covered my entire head with almost-ice-cold plaster for about 10 minutes. Can you say, "Breathe slowly and relax"? I did pretty well...had a hot flash as soon as the last blob of plaster covered me up and felt a rush of anxiety for about two seconds. They're very careful and if I gave them the signal, they'd strip that stuff off of my head ASAP and try a different method. But I wasn't going to let the plaster kick my butt.

The only things exposed were my nostrils, and no, they didn't have straws sticking out of them. There was music on the radio that I was focusing on as well as my breathing. After a moment I was ok and I could've sat there for another 30 minutes...I was just chillin' - pun intended. I'll post pics of the final head cast when I see it.

Thursday was quite different. I went to downtown Montreal to get my work visa for Argentina. I'm looking very forward to going there.

Some pics of downtown Montreal (click to enlarge/pop up):

Can't go anywhere without seeing a McDonalds

Canada is known as a peaceful country

Cirque du Soleil Headquarters

I had a 9am welcome meeting and was given a tour of most of the building. They set up a few other meetings for me and then back to my room. I haven't seen any of the music yet. I'm supposed to learn about 50 pieces of music by April 7th but don't know when they'll get that to me.

This place is totally cool! First off, everyone I meet seems to really just love their job. The building looks like it's a 1/4 mile long. There are up to 1,600 people working there at a time. Right now, it's between 1,200-1,600. Cirque employs about 2,500 people worlwide!

The building itself is incredible. It's mostly a steel/glass/concrete structure, but has a very warm and inviting feel to it inside...not cold at all...lots of windows. I was really impressed how they used the pressed wood inside (you'll see it in the pics below). It has a sort of bronze effect with the lighting scheme. There are two places to eat inside: a cafeteria where you can get lamb, portobello stuffed crepes, delicious soups, etc., and a smaller hamburger/hot dog joint. People don't really leave the building to eat. "Let's have lunch together" means they'll be meeting in the cafeteria...spouses and children sometimes show up to eat with their family. It's a very pleasant atmosphere...they really take care of their people at this company.

Here are some pics of about 1/4th of the entire building (click to enlarge in a pop up window):

At the main entrance

Part of the lobby area

Partial Lobby view from above

Every company should have a rock-climbing wall! (elevator shaft/rock wall)

Cool lighting fixture upstairs - 3rd floor

Spiral Staircase - 2nd floor

I love the way they used the pressed wood planks here.

Glass wall

View outside from one of the 3rd floor windows...must look beautiful when then grass is green

This is where they set up and test the shows before they go out into the rest of the world for all to enjoy. If you look close, high above, you'll see the grates...like a catwalk where they hang all the cables. You really get a good idea of the scale of this room if you take a look at the rigger who's wearing a hard hat, standing just left of center.

"The Arch" - a structure put up by artist Andy Goldsworthy to express risk and balance. It is free standing, nothing is supporting it other than it's own weight under gravity. Cirque du soleil founder and CEO Guy Laliberté has a smaller version in his backyard. Click his name to read his message.

Montreal Arrival - Cirque du Soleil-Day 1

I made it to Montreal on last Monday safe and sound. I left any expectations I had at home.

I grabbed my bags, went through customs and was met by Alaine. This guy's cool! He actually stood there and posed for the pic.

He was sent to pick me up and take me to the Cirque du Soleil artists' residence which is across the street from CDS's headquarters. My room is ...hmmmm...how you say?.... cozy? It's something between a dorm room and a halfway house. But it's comfortable and clean and I'm enjoying it! 11:30 pm was when I arrived to the room. I unpacked and set up my portable studio.

I was extremely curious to see what the following day would bring!

Cool Bathroom pics. No, it's not what you think!

I had a gig with City Beat last at a club in Huntington Beach, CA called Martini Blues. These are photos of the painted tile in the men's bathroom. (click pics to enlarge)











Here are some pics from the women's bathroom Yes, I went in their with my camera. Twisted, huh?)

Miles Davis and Boba - The Common Thread

It's been a great couple of days as I'm "closing shop" here in Los Angeles and getting ready to embark on my Cirque du Soleil adventure-tour in four days. Peter Maunu came over yesterday and laid down some beautiful guitar tracks on Doug Lunn's upcoming CD that we were working to finish upin my studio - "Camp Chakmakian."

Then I had a chance to run out with a friend to grab a quick boba - you know, those big tapioca balls in that slushy concoction? What? You never had a boba??

We proceded to get a lecture from the boba guru behind the counter about milk-tea boba being the only legit flavor. "All these other flavors are because of America. It's like putting ketchup on a hot dog." Ok, give me the milk-tea. My friend will have the peach.

I've been putting together a portable studio so I can continue writing music while I'm on the road. All I need is a small keyboard, my Mac PowerBook, a FireWire drive, midi interface, headphones and voila! I can write to my heart's content.

Speaking of Boba, a couple friends came by today to send me off with good wishes.

It was boba time again! We went to the same place I'd gone yesterday hoping that the boba guru would spare me the lecture. Nothing worse than a boba Nazi. It was 4:15 and I had to get home soon.

DAMN! NO BOBA TODAY!!

We took a walk into Tower Records next door. I was perusing the jazz section and was happy to see that the placement of my CD was next to Dave Brubeck's new CD. I was not in the world music or new age section which I was very happy about. A favorite joke of Chuck Greenberg's: Q: What do you get when you play a new age song backwards? A: A new age song.

I also and found some very cool box sets of Miles Davis that I'm going to go pick up tomorrow. All the time spent on Doug's Record and discussions of Miles Davis has got me in a Miles-kind-of-mood.

I wanted to get home because Gor was going to cruise by and we were going to swap CDs before I left town. His new album is totally cool - English-language songs, some great electronic elements, and John Berberian playing oud in some very non-traditional fashion at time. Great production; great tunes...I dig it!

I was at home for a little while longer working out some more bugs in my portable system, then went to a late dinner with my wife. Oh look! There's a Border's across the street and I have a gift card in my pocket! Woo hoo! After scouring the jazz section, I picked up two Miles Davis CDs, In A Silent Way and Filles De Kilimanjaro. I've been listening to them for the last couple hours...gorgeous, soulful and timeless music!

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!

Yesterday marked one one week from the day that I'll be departing Los Angeles to go on tour with Cirque du Soleil. Earlier in the month, I had planned out the projects that I wanted to finish before I left town. A friend of mine once told me, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." God's doing the ol' ROFLMAO while he/she/it watches me scramble to finish up a book of church hymns (I just realized the irony here), help my friend finish the recording of his CD in my studio, compose/record/turn in 4 of the 10 music cues I'm writing for some television shows.

My wife's going to move out of our house within a month of me leaving town, so throw that into the mix too! (She'll be joining me for the 2nd leg of the tour from Aug-Dec in Brazil). I'll be breaking down my entire studio and packing up all my music "stuff." Ugh! Hmmm...Do I have enought to do yet?

I have a gig on Friday night, a wedding on Saturday, and would like to spend at least a little bit of time with my family since I won't be coming home until June, then leaving again from Aug-Dec. Whew!

I think I'll experience some relief when I'm on my way to Montreal to start rehearsals. Here's my schedule for those of you who are curious:

Montreal 3/27 - 4/7
Santiago 4/8 - 4/22
Buenos Aires 4/23 - 6/11
Sao Paulo 8/2 - 10/15
Rio de Janeiro 10/26 - 12/3

And for the even more curious, here are some of the above-mentioned music cues I composed (check out Ricky Z's funky guitar tracks on "Grand Torino") :

"Club Eclipse" 1:17

"Fast Cruiser" 1:52

"Black Light Jungle" 1:17

"Grand Torino" 1:17

They're Playing Our Song!

After staying up all night (until 8:30 am!) working on it, a song I wrote with a friend for the NBC Series E-Ring (Dennis Hopper, Benjamin Bratt. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) will be featured at the end of the show! Date is TBA. They just gave me the thumbs up and are using over 2:30 of the track during two overlapping heavy scenes that takes the show to the end credits.