Hello peeps!

Glad to hear all of the positive feedback on the blog.  I’ve never done this before so it’s been quite a learning curve – especially having to navigate it all with a usually weak satellite signal out here at sea.  The sun is finally shining and I actually got to enjoy a few hours with the balcony door open yesterday.   Tomorrow we reach Argentina and I hope to ditch the sweaters for a pair of shorts!!!   Shows have been going really well and we’ve met some great people on this cruise.  I’ve been working daily on my new concert, “Chanteur”, which will premiere this spring.   I’ve got a few dates booked already so mark your calendars:

April 30th & May 1st @ The Gardenia in Los Angeles

May 14th & 15th @ Pizza On The Park in London

May 17th & 18th at L’Essaion in Paris

Brian Lane Green has created this concert just for me and I am so excited to share all of this new material with everyone so stay tuned!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ys4TEJYP78[/youtube]

This video blog has taken me 2 days to upload because the internet connection in Antarctica is really slow!!!  I did see a whale today, but still no sign of a penguin…

Tomorrow we head towards Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

Please feel free to comment on these video blogs!!!

Cheers,
Lee

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dxZjyox0-E[/youtube]

If I don’t see one damn penguin…..

Well here we are day 3 in Antarctica, battling bad weather.

Yesterday we spent most of the day trying to get close to Deception Island.  We could easily see it in the distance but the winds weren’t in our favor so we sort of hung out for most of the day hoping the winds would change course.   The captain even turned the ship around a few times and tried to inch in closer.  With the winds this strong the biggest concern is that one of the glacier floes could actually be blown too close to the ship and cause damage.   For a few hours in the late afternoon we even experienced some light snowfall.  Last night we went back into the Drake Passage heading north and hit the same rough seas we experienced on Sunday.   I’m not sure where we are today but I awoke to calmer seas and what looks like sunshine trying to break through the clouds.    It’s bad enough that I’ll disembark this ship without a tan…but if I don’t see at least one damn penguin there is gonna be hell to pay!!!

I’m just sayin’

🙂
L

Much calmer seas today!!  We are officially in Antarctica and cruising by Deception Island.  The weather is pretty grey and rainy so we can’t see too much but I have spotted a few glaciers.  Hopefully it’ll clear up by later this afternoon so I can take some pictures to share with everyone.  I did upload a new Gallery with photos from Ushuaia and aboard the Mariner.  Check them out in the Gallery:  3 Men Journey to Antarctica

More to come…

L

Our first concert

“2 Men and A Baby…Grand + Vlado”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2tmX5yi-S4[/youtube]

Sunday, February 7, 2010

If you’ve watched my latest video blog you’ll know that unfortunately our musical director, John Randall, never made it to Ushuaia, Argentina to board the Regent Mariner.   His connection time in Buenos Aires was much too short and he had to clear customs etc., and missed his initial flight.   He was on standby for the next few flights but never got on and thus the ship set sail with “2 Men and a Baby Grand!”

After discussing the issue with the cruise director, he asked their lounge pianist, Vlado, if he’d be willing to play for us this week.   Vlado jumped at the opportunity and we spent much of yesterday printing and taping music together etc.  Thankfully I had several of the charts on my laptop (remind me to scan and put ALL of the music on the laptop as soon as I return home!).

Last night the weather turned to rain storms and we had quite a bumpy  ride.  The sea was howling through my balcony door all night.  Today the sea conditions continued to be rough which is never my favorite day at sea.   Brian and I rehearsed with Vlado and he did quite well.  We’ve re-vamped the concert using some of our Rat Pack charts and several from my Mercer show.   I think it’ll go over really well.

After a quick lunch I went right back to bed as the seas were rough and that always makes me tired.  I’m about to head down for a sound check and then we’ll do our first concert at 8:30 PM tonight.

Hopefully tomorrow we will awake to calmer seas and warmer weather…

Cheers,

Lee

So we (Brian and I) arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina yesterday, but our musical director, John Randall didn’t quite make it….Now are are at sea for 6 days…should be interesting 🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyMIRuO_a7A[/youtube]

Today (or was it yesterday) – ah yes – it was yesterday when I left for the airport in Los Angeles and began my 23 hour day of travel to get to the end of the world….LITERALLY…I am now in Ushuaia, Argentina which is the southern most point in the world…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha1PPnryP2g[/youtube]