Ships & Dip III - Thursday - Rock Day At Sea

You Never Know What's Gonna Happen on the Cruise-Uh!

Rock Day At Sea - Thursday, January 31

For a change, we didn't have to get up before the asscrack of dawn. But, if course, I woke up at 7 am, anyway! John went to the gym, and I started to pack a little after my shower, as it was our last day at sea.

We had some breakfast, then met up with my SparkPeople homeys for a group picture before Yoga with Jim Creeggan. The guy who started SparkPeople, Chris, and one of the other guys that helps him run the site, Dave, are HUGE fans of Barenaked Ladies, and were bummed they couldn't make it on this cruise. Instead, they sent us free t-shirts for our group photo! They're going to add it to the site, and maybe do a story on our team, BNL Buddies, which is awesome! John approached Jim before Yoga, to ask him if he would join us for the picture, and he agreed!

After the photo, only three of us stayed for yoga... John, Christine, and me. It was hard, but it felt good to do it! John and I even got yoga pointers from BNL's manager, Terry McBride. That was pretty cool. LOL! After yoga, we went back to our cabin and changed. I think we packed some more before lunch. John and I had wristbands to the Songwriter's Panel, which started at 1:00 pm.

The Songwriter's Panel was AMAZING. Last year, it was just Steve and Ed, answering questions and singing songs. This year was very different. Steve and Ed were there, but were also joined by six other songwriters: Kurt Swinghammer, Jason Plumb, Craig Northey (of The New Odds), Sarah Harmer, Alan Doyle (of Great Big Sea), and Boothby Graffoe. In turn they went down the line four times, and each person sang a song. After three rounds, technically they should have ended the panel, as it was 3pm, but they decided to do one more round, stretching the event another 40 minutes! Excellent.

Highlights Included:
Ed: He Makes Me Want Her Again
Steve: Chorus Girl and Entourage
Jason Plumb: Satellite (with Ed)
Sarah Harmer: Oleander
Alan Doyle: Straight to Hell and Not for the Money Alone
Boothby Graffoe: Kittens in a Bag, Nice Bloke and this crazy song where we went through the alphabet three times, and every time was different.

Despite all the amazing talent on the stage, I think Boothby stole the show! LOL! We immediately went to the merchandise table after the show to buy his CD. He happened to be there, dropping off a fresh batch, so we got him to sign our copy -- before we even paid for it!

After Songwriters, we were free for a while, so we went back and did some more packing and ate dinner before Joe Pisapia's set in the Adriatic Lounge. He was supposed to play on the Lido main stage initially, but that venue is just not right for his quiet style. I'm glad they moved it. My brother and Clarissa were MAJORLY impressed with his set. Joe is amazing. I missed him last year because of a venue change and crappy communication -- I am so glad I didn't miss him this year! I also got to sit with a bunch of barenaket.net peeps, which made it even better!

After Joe, we went straight up to Lido to get some ice cream (mmm), and headed down to the front of the ship to see Sarah Harmer open for Barenaked Ladies... it was FINALLY time for our Main show! Sarah was great... as usual, Ed came out to sing a song with her. I'm really starting to become a fan of hers. She keeps good company. LOL!

The SparkPeople BNL Buddies Team!
L to R: Snickers, the three Jens, Randy, Clarissa, Suebee, Christine,
John, and Kristen. Jim Creeggan is front and center, kneeling.