so this week went extremely fast, after last week's craziness, it should seem fast. we had one school a day except for thursday where we had two schools. the two school day was not much of a time issue seeing that they were only about five minutes apart; but they were both our hardest stage setups yet.
the first stage was too small to set up on so we set up on the floor in front of the stage. our second school wanted us to use the stage which barely fit one screen across it, so we had the two side screens coming off the stage onto the floor. this was a very complicated setup and if it hadn't of been for the students (camea, carolin, ben, and isaac) we wouldn't of been able to setup on time. they were all in eighth grade, and really fun, shy-at-first students. they were eager to help and very good at following instructions.
the second school was also exciting because there was a fight between two students. and when i say fight i mean both stranding up on their chairs thrashing at each other with closed fists. they were both jumped on by teachers and escorted out of the assembly. i guess my intro was pretty bad....just kidding! neither of the students were hurt, and the situation was dissolved very quickly. this incident happened right before the start of the assembly, so minda and i gave a pretty awesome intro and conclusion touching on how it takes courage to say "no" to yourself; like starting rumors, getting in fights, ect. and how participating in those activities actually makes you a weaker person.
BUT, the most exciting part of our week was that we were on the news!! so we were at norristown high school, which had the biggest stage ever! it was amazing, like heaven! it also had a giant orchestra pit which was great because our projectors were able to sit inside of it, out of harms way. the school had around 2000 students and they apparently have their own in-school news channel, which also airs on local channels. we were interviewed by two students after our second show. they asked us questions about the presentation and what our job is like. it was a fun interview that we both really actually enjoyed!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
weekend with tyra
so it is the weekend, finally! it has been a very, very long week full of 2 school days, in all we have presented the show 18 times! we are extremely tired and we are super pumped to get a couple days to kick back and rest our bodies and minds.
the other day was a very stressful day for us, we had two schools, which were very close in scheduling. the first school's multi-purpose room's stage was extremely small and we couldn't fit our screens on the stage, so we had to reconfigure the seating to fit the screens on the floor. on top of that we started over half an hour behind schedule which meant that we ended up being half an hour late to our next venue.
at that next venue we could not get the line up exactly right because we had to set up our projectors in the rows of seats and how the seats were made it was truly difficult to line up our projectors. so it ended up being slightly off. now when i say slightly off i mean it was pretty bad, but the thing is, is that no one but minda and i could see the difference. we were even thanked by our contact for making the screens look so good, we almost started laughing.
at the end of the day even though we were both basically at our breaking point, we were able to agree to put the day behind us, and we were both able to laugh at our ridiculous day.
today we had what was supposed to be our "stressful day" because we had a super tight drive in between our two schools. the first school decided to begin their second show early which gave us the extra time to arrived at our next school 3 minutes ahead of schedule. both the set ups went very well, and at the second school we had the entire stage crew to help us set up and tear down. it was awesome. btw we had to set up our projectors in the seating at both shows and the line ups were killer!
at the end of our crazy week we (Minda) decided to finish it by watching an entire season of America's next top model.
the other day was a very stressful day for us, we had two schools, which were very close in scheduling. the first school's multi-purpose room's stage was extremely small and we couldn't fit our screens on the stage, so we had to reconfigure the seating to fit the screens on the floor. on top of that we started over half an hour behind schedule which meant that we ended up being half an hour late to our next venue.
at that next venue we could not get the line up exactly right because we had to set up our projectors in the rows of seats and how the seats were made it was truly difficult to line up our projectors. so it ended up being slightly off. now when i say slightly off i mean it was pretty bad, but the thing is, is that no one but minda and i could see the difference. we were even thanked by our contact for making the screens look so good, we almost started laughing.
at the end of the day even though we were both basically at our breaking point, we were able to agree to put the day behind us, and we were both able to laugh at our ridiculous day.
today we had what was supposed to be our "stressful day" because we had a super tight drive in between our two schools. the first school decided to begin their second show early which gave us the extra time to arrived at our next school 3 minutes ahead of schedule. both the set ups went very well, and at the second school we had the entire stage crew to help us set up and tear down. it was awesome. btw we had to set up our projectors in the seating at both shows and the line ups were killer!
at the end of our crazy week we (Minda) decided to finish it by watching an entire season of America's next top model.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
the six show school
yesterday (monday) was a long day to say the least. we were in a middle school in northern maryland, our first show started at 9:30, and we had shows all day until 3:30 in the afternoon. i think our boss andrew is mad at us, because i can think of no better way to torture and turn someone's braon to mush faster than scheduling them to watch the same 40 minute presentation 6 times in a row. in all seriousness, by the end we were extremely loopy and exhausted, but we love andrew and are just poking fun at him. the teachers and principal were very accommodating and really very nice to us. crazy day. now for the rest of the week we have 2 schools every day, it should be an experience for sure.
Monday, September 13, 2010
philly
so we went to Philadelphia on our day off, a couple days ago. it was pretty cool. we had a blast trying to find parking (sarcasm), but driving around the city was really fun. the buildings were old and had such character and 1depth to them. it was definitely an unexpected surprise as we were perusing all of the tiny unusable compact sized spots on the side of the street.
one of our must sees in philly was of course the liberty bell! in case you forgot the importance of the liberty bell check it out here!! so i prepared myself to be completely disappointed by the liberty bell, but honestly, it was pretty impressive! it was actually much larger than i though it was going to be. they were still in process of building onto the already new building that the bell resides in, so it was a little messy, but the information that they had to read and see leading up to the bell was informative and interesting as well.
our next stop was one that may interest a wider array of readers, we went for food! so we were told by our friends that we had to go to geno's for a real classic philly cheese steak, but i remembered watching a food network special in which i learned that pat's king of steaks, across the street was actually built before geno's. also geno's had lights and crazy signs and such, which was just obnoxious and lame. so we chose pat's, a small humble building, drawing people near with a small sign that held the name of their restaurant; any place that doesn't have to tell you how good they are, are alright in my book.
they cheese steaks were amazing, i mean, seriously, they were so good, a tad expensive, but so worth it! i feel like i might of broken my comma button on my keyboard.......o well.
one of the downsides of going to get a philly cheese steaks was that we had to walk around half an hour to get there. this meant that we had to walk all the way back, the problem other than having to walk on full stomachs was that we were a couple minutes late to repay on our parking meter. apparently the meter gods (it is just a joke) were not on our side, and we had received a parking ticket, dang it.
one of our must sees in philly was of course the liberty bell! in case you forgot the importance of the liberty bell check it out here!! so i prepared myself to be completely disappointed by the liberty bell, but honestly, it was pretty impressive! it was actually much larger than i though it was going to be. they were still in process of building onto the already new building that the bell resides in, so it was a little messy, but the information that they had to read and see leading up to the bell was informative and interesting as well.
our next stop was one that may interest a wider array of readers, we went for food! so we were told by our friends that we had to go to geno's for a real classic philly cheese steak, but i remembered watching a food network special in which i learned that pat's king of steaks, across the street was actually built before geno's. also geno's had lights and crazy signs and such, which was just obnoxious and lame. so we chose pat's, a small humble building, drawing people near with a small sign that held the name of their restaurant; any place that doesn't have to tell you how good they are, are alright in my book.
they cheese steaks were amazing, i mean, seriously, they were so good, a tad expensive, but so worth it! i feel like i might of broken my comma button on my keyboard.......o well.
one of the downsides of going to get a philly cheese steaks was that we had to walk around half an hour to get there. this meant that we had to walk all the way back, the problem other than having to walk on full stomachs was that we were a couple minutes late to repay on our parking meter. apparently the meter gods (it is just a joke) were not on our side, and we had received a parking ticket, dang it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
our colorful day of rock and roll
today (Wednesday) was a free day for us. so before we left Easton, Pa to go to Horsham, Pa; we had to stop by the crayola crayon factory, which we learned today supplies 90% of the world's crayola brand crayons! before we entered the factory, we had to check out the biggest crayola store in the world that is also home to the world largest crayon! impractical, but still pretty cool!
after making a purchase at one of the coolest, most colorful stores in the world, we headed over to the factory for a tour! it was pretty fun, and we learned an awesome tip about crayola markers! so what is the worst thing that could befall a marker? a cap left off overnight, and a dry useless marker, right? well don't fret and don't toss your marker just yet.
the tip was:
after our tour was over, we headed over to the original "School of Rock", after we got a tip from Johnny Vazquez, another tech from Camfel!
it was a pretty cool experience, just fun getting a chance to see it in person!
 |
| yep it's blue |
after making a purchase at one of the coolest, most colorful stores in the world, we headed over to the factory for a tour! it was pretty fun, and we learned an awesome tip about crayola markers! so what is the worst thing that could befall a marker? a cap left off overnight, and a dry useless marker, right? well don't fret and don't toss your marker just yet.
the tip was:
- dip the dry tip of your marker in warm water for 30 seconds
- put the cap back on
- let sit overnight
- your dry dead marker will be reborn!!
after our tour was over, we headed over to the original "School of Rock", after we got a tip from Johnny Vazquez, another tech from Camfel!
it was a pretty cool experience, just fun getting a chance to see it in person!
on the move, very fast and very tired
so after spending over a week in pittsburgh, it is time to move on. we traveled from our hotel to Easton, PA, we will be there for two nights and then we will move onto Horsham, PA. after this week we will have a very crazy week. we will be traveling to and from Maryland, hopping back and forth over the border.
our first day of the week we will have six shows at one school, from then on we have two schools a day for the rest of the week, the majority of those schools have two shows booked as well. so in all next week on our five work days we will have eighteen shows! whew, please be praying for us as we prepare for next week!
our first day of the week we will have six shows at one school, from then on we have two schools a day for the rest of the week, the majority of those schools have two shows booked as well. so in all next week on our five work days we will have eighteen shows! whew, please be praying for us as we prepare for next week!
Monday, September 6, 2010
the day of two schools
wow this past friday was intense. we had two schools this day, fortunately they were about 10 minutes apart, but we still had two schools in one day......wooooh tiring!
both the schools we had a show at that day were middle schools and we had students help us at each school. the first school we arrived at had a large stage, but a short ceiling and lights. so we had to set up farther back on the stage. it was a little irritating because it was extremely hard to maneuver our screens with the ceiling being so low. we had to bring them forward and back a few different times trying to find a spot where all three screens could fit together. we finished that setup on time with no serious problems.
our next show was to start at 2:00 and it was a little bit more stressful. when we arrived we were told that the auditorium that we would be setting up on would be in use until 1:00. on top of that, we were also told that there was going to be a fire drill happening at 1:27, in which we HAD to participate in. this meant that we truly only had around 25 minutes to set-up everything. luckily the stage was ENORMOUS! so while there was a presentation happening on the front of the stage we were able to set up our screens back stage. we also set up our projector tables and speaker stands. we basically had everything prepped to set up, but we didn't have anything set up.
the guys that helped us were a HUGE help! minda took care of the projectors while the six 8th grade guys helped me get the screens set up and worked on running cords for the speakers. it was a mad dash to get everything ready in time. we were doing our sound check when the fire alarm went off. having everything prepped definetly helped us, but we did our set up pretty much in under 25 minutes. needless to say we were a little exhausted after this set up.
don't forget to check out our map to see where we have traveled so far!
both the schools we had a show at that day were middle schools and we had students help us at each school. the first school we arrived at had a large stage, but a short ceiling and lights. so we had to set up farther back on the stage. it was a little irritating because it was extremely hard to maneuver our screens with the ceiling being so low. we had to bring them forward and back a few different times trying to find a spot where all three screens could fit together. we finished that setup on time with no serious problems.
our next show was to start at 2:00 and it was a little bit more stressful. when we arrived we were told that the auditorium that we would be setting up on would be in use until 1:00. on top of that, we were also told that there was going to be a fire drill happening at 1:27, in which we HAD to participate in. this meant that we truly only had around 25 minutes to set-up everything. luckily the stage was ENORMOUS! so while there was a presentation happening on the front of the stage we were able to set up our screens back stage. we also set up our projector tables and speaker stands. we basically had everything prepped to set up, but we didn't have anything set up.
the guys that helped us were a HUGE help! minda took care of the projectors while the six 8th grade guys helped me get the screens set up and worked on running cords for the speakers. it was a mad dash to get everything ready in time. we were doing our sound check when the fire alarm went off. having everything prepped definetly helped us, but we did our set up pretty much in under 25 minutes. needless to say we were a little exhausted after this set up.
don't forget to check out our map to see where we have traveled so far!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
PackRat anyone?
so, during training another married another married team (mike and kelsey domeny) introduced us to a game called "PackRat". it is a super fun, original card game in which you horde and sell items individually and in collections! the really neat part about this game is that it was completely created by the Domenys! so if you are looking for an easy to learn game that is addictive and fun, support the Domenys and buy their game!
PackRat is a game for the entire family! Collect, sell, and horde widgets, what-zits, doo-dads, and even doo-moms! Hold onto as much as you can, but be sure to sell when the deal is right!
In what other game can you store Mama's Favorite Who-Zit in a Bathtub? Or Grandpa's Doo-Hickey in the Kitchen Sink? Just hope it's not a Fancy Imitation!
PackRat’s play time can be customized to any duration you choose, and it can easily accommodate 2-8 players.
a night of three of our favorite things!
- Pittsburgh Steelers/Football
- Each Other
- Heinz Ketchup
don't judge us.
on thursday night minda and i had the unique opportunity to see a pittsburgh steelers game live! it was a blast and minda was pretty much like a kid in a candy shop that was going out of business and having a liquidation sale.
being that it was a pre-season game, we found great seats online for less than half price! we were sitting dead center, lowest level, steeler's sideline, only 26 seats from the front. minda was able to see the facial expressions of "her boys", she was elated to say the least.
we were also sitting right behind some high school guys that were very into supporting their home team! they also helped lead some great cheers!
the game was against the carolina panthers. apparently they did not bring their a-game as the steelers pretty much were running circles around them! it was the icing on the cake to have them win by a landslide on the game we attended! we also took some great pictures after the game. remember you can click the pictures to see a bigger version of them!
at the end of the day we had a wonderful time! it was a perfect date.
chillin in pittsburgh
we have been in pittsburgh for the past week now and it has been a really fun time for Minda and I. we had the opportunity last weekend to hang out with another camfel team, Johnny and Lacie Vasquez! we just hung out around the city and ate some food with them; to end the night the wonderful couple invited us over to their hotel to play some games. it is interesting when you spend all your time on the road and in hotels how a simple hotel lobby now becomes your living room and entertainment area. so we spent a couple of hours in their "living room" playing "pass the pigs", which if you have never played, definitely need to try! let's just say Minda has the magic touch of the pigs.
the next morning (sunday), we went to The Hot Metal Bridge Church, a cool church with a great sense of community. They held an extremely laid back service outside in the sunshine, it was a great way to spend a sunday morning. i am always amazed when i visit other churches, especially when traveling, about how amazing being a Christian truly is. we literally have family from city to city, state to state, country to country. it is such cool blessing to take part in playing a role in the body of Christ.
ok, onto "business":
our first show of the week went swimmingly! it was a super fast set-up with no technical problems, BUT there were some other issues.....
first, it was an 8:00 show, which means we had to arrive at 6:00am....eww, on top of that our hotel was about 45 minutes away from our school, double eww. so we arrived and of course no one was at the school. we waited about 30 minutes for the school janitor and secretary to arrive, they did, and they were as sweet and helpful as can be.
second, right before the students started filing in, the ENTIRE cheer leading squad came in and started doing their cheers over all of our cords. this could possibly lead to a student tripping and hurting themselves, possibly unplugging our equipment, or pulling our equipment over. we quickly jumped into action and added and extra layer of tape to hold down our cords more securely.
third, after about the first 100 students had found their seats, music started pumping from the schools speakers and around 10 huge beach balls were thrown into the crowd of middle schoolers. i would normally be a huge advocate of what just unfolded before us, but we have 3 very delicate, very, very expensive projectors that are set up on stands in the first and second rows! once again minda and i jumped into action and hurdled 2 rows of auditorium seating to bat away countless attacks of beach balls to our projectors. it was stressful to say the least.
in our next update you will get to hear about Minda's dream come true in getting to see a Pittsburgh Steelers game live at Heinz Field!
the next morning (sunday), we went to The Hot Metal Bridge Church, a cool church with a great sense of community. They held an extremely laid back service outside in the sunshine, it was a great way to spend a sunday morning. i am always amazed when i visit other churches, especially when traveling, about how amazing being a Christian truly is. we literally have family from city to city, state to state, country to country. it is such cool blessing to take part in playing a role in the body of Christ.
ok, onto "business":
our first show of the week went swimmingly! it was a super fast set-up with no technical problems, BUT there were some other issues.....
first, it was an 8:00 show, which means we had to arrive at 6:00am....eww, on top of that our hotel was about 45 minutes away from our school, double eww. so we arrived and of course no one was at the school. we waited about 30 minutes for the school janitor and secretary to arrive, they did, and they were as sweet and helpful as can be.
second, right before the students started filing in, the ENTIRE cheer leading squad came in and started doing their cheers over all of our cords. this could possibly lead to a student tripping and hurting themselves, possibly unplugging our equipment, or pulling our equipment over. we quickly jumped into action and added and extra layer of tape to hold down our cords more securely.
third, after about the first 100 students had found their seats, music started pumping from the schools speakers and around 10 huge beach balls were thrown into the crowd of middle schoolers. i would normally be a huge advocate of what just unfolded before us, but we have 3 very delicate, very, very expensive projectors that are set up on stands in the first and second rows! once again minda and i jumped into action and hurdled 2 rows of auditorium seating to bat away countless attacks of beach balls to our projectors. it was stressful to say the least.
in our next update you will get to hear about Minda's dream come true in getting to see a Pittsburgh Steelers game live at Heinz Field!
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