Friday. My last day of organizing the open stage shows.
Question of the afternoon. I needed sleep. Should I sleep through the games or the RDL show? I chose to watch the games, but regretted it. Worst EJC games in 10 years!!!
Although reports from the RDL show indicate I might have fallen asleep during the RDL show anyway.
After the open stage, I had no responsibilities until going home, so I pulled out all the stops for dancing and partying.
The party moved to the hill, and Declan ran a spontaneous renegade show that resulted in Luke drinking too much rum and tequila!
Day 6, and my life is revolving around organizing shows and performing in them. This can be great fun, but the heat is getting to me. 37 degrees, and the hottest day in the history of Finland!
Today: the third open stage, and Fight Night, plus associated meetings and technical setups and stress. It’s worth it in the end, as a thousand people get a good show or two.
Other shows took place, with Luke Wilson and Sakari Mannisto and Jay Gilligan (with Eric). I didn’t see much, as I tried to take time off when not organizatering.
I’ve failed at one of my 50 goals of the year. I didn’t win either the Berlin or EJC fight night. Second and third place respectively.
Instead of going straight to bed, I stayed up playing combat, then chatting, and then uploaded my photos. By that time I decided to see the end of Rumpole’s 26 hour show. I realize that means there are photos of his show over three days on my convention coverage!
Next: Open stage technical setup. No stress. Luke Wilson is cool.
Next: Massage. Good stuff.
Next: Special show from Shake That. I only caught the end of it due to my massage.
Next: Finish Youth Circus. I didn’t see any more than a few photo’s worth.
Next: Pizza!
Next: Running Open stage. Pretty weird selection of acts, but zero stress. Eric and Komei rocked it!
Next: Hanging out. Renegade for a few minutes. Then more hanging out. Until 6am. Damn!
When I got to my hotel to go to bed, I found that breakfast was already served, and many guests were up and about. I took some food up to my room to eat when I woke up.
Tech run for open stage… fine. I only remembered to take photos when Stefan Sing got on stage. In the afternoon I slept, and missed my massage appointment.
Next up, Compagnie Ea Eo with a show called m2. Awesome. I cried twice.
Next, the open stage. I was going to host, but was ill (hungover). Hans offered to host a show at some point in the week, so I asked him to step in for me at the last minute. I forgot to take photos until the final act… Stefan Sing again. 280 people watched online, and someone proposed to their girlfriend.
After the open stage, I rocked out at combat. That’s my day! Tonight I’m going to bed early.
Today I mainly went about organizing the open stages for Tuesday through Friday. Also, during the afternoon, I saw a few parts of the Fins and Friends show. The first and last act were variable/tedious, but Tony Pezzo (Wes Peden’s Mini Me) performed an engaging ring juggling number.
I also watched the Finish Open Stage Show. The highlight for me wasn’t the acts on stage, but chatting with the people watching the live at EJC2010.org/live – At one point there were 180 people watching from all over the world.
Also today I stocked up on alcohol from a supermarket. This came in handy in the evening, after the shows, when various 23rd birthday parties took place. Okay, just one. But then the party moved to the lake, and I think it is still going, at 5.45 AM. I ended up in the lake, then the sauna, and then here in the lobby of the arena uploading photos. Why? I guess I’m still a bit drunk.
Oh, at some point there was a tango band in the bar, a fire jam session, and Rumpole began a 26 hour show.
Today I hosted the opening show of the convention, and even performed some juggling too. Then I went swimming in the lake and watched some volley club. Then I saw two really good shows. The first was a solo show by Wes Peden, who was particularly sweaty afterwards. The second show was by Marco Paoletti and company called “12 pieces of stuff”. I don’t normally like taking photos of shows, but Marco’s show was particularly dramatic in terms of lighting and imagery. Afterwards I discovered the pizza place didn’t serve pizza after 9pm. Back in the hall I chatted and played combat.
The sun is now up, and I should really get some sleep.
The first day open for jugglers. There is a free Rubik’s Cube for every person who pre-registered. The pass is fixed around your wrist with a metal clamp. Today I played volleyclub, played combat, ate with friends in the camp site, hung out in the hall, had my first sauna in Finland.
EJC Photo Blogging begins! I’ve got lots of organizing and performing to do this year, but I hope to post some photos from each day, just like last year.
An EJC with a single day allocated to building everything and setting up the whole site. And it worked! Here are photos from within the arena on the evening before the convention opened to the public.
Air travel is a necessary evil. Due to last minute booking of my flights to Cape Town, I managed to have two overnight flights in three nights. That’s not fun!
Also, I was really looking forward to seeing a bit of Cape Town, but when I arrived at the airport, we were taken directly to the ship and weren’t allowed off again.
Accordingly, I ate dinner out on deck, with a great view of the Table Mountain. And so ended my great South African adventure.
So on to Warvis Bay, Namibia! I took a shuttle bus from the port into town. On the way I saw Chris, another guest entertainer, wandering round and looking a bit lost for something to do. I offered a mini adventure, and we caught a cab out to the desert.
Dune 7 is about 300m high. My only plan was to climb the dune, juggle, jump a bit, and run back down.
Chris couldn’t keep up. However, it’s now about 4 days later, and my inner thighs are still giving me trouble.
Chris walking along the top of the ridge.
Jumping! This is one of my favorite things to do on a sand dune.
Chris had a go too. It took him a while to get used to it, but this is the best shot.
Soft landing.
Here’s a video I posted a few days ago. If you missed it, it contains running, jumping and juggling.
Driving back to the city. That’s the Westerdam cruise ship looming over the entire city.
I wore sandals. Chris wore trainers. He carried a lot of sand back from the dune.
Testing the weight of wooden sculptures to see if it’s possible to take them home on the plane.
The Westerdam, ship of drama. Maybe, if I ever work out what’s going on on this ship, I’ll write a blog post about it.
