missed it.
Jul. 13th, 2004 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacebugIt seems as though *everyone* was at the Saloon last night. Except me and s4, who opted out because we *both* actually had to work in the morning. I was never told about the Ethel Fund, so I didn't get to contribute *or* witness the teary results. Dang! I also didn't get the hug from hedgiwan that 433 said she was looking to give everyone at CON' for chipping in for her present- I was probably busy doing space lounge things. Oh well.
So I got up really early this morning and rode my bicycle downtown and pushed around lots of heavy things (some Really Really Heavy Things) for Phantom of the Opera, which opens this week at the Orpheum. I think the final count for the trucks was 11. 11 semi-trucks full of mostly very big and heavy things. The Orpheum's stage is not very big, but this production sure is- that's as many or more trucks than some have needed for stadium rock shows. I had a call there on Saturday, too, for preproduction work, and there was one the day before that for other preproduction work. There must be tons of stagehand stuff going on between this and the Basillica block party and the convention center and Pantages; I've gotten three calls this week (missed one, though) and while I don't think I have the worst standing, I'm still an E-lister, which means I barely rank. I may have been on the D-list once, but I think I was bumped back down since I didn't take any union gigs when I was working my office job. Eh.
Being a roadie is weird. There's a part of me that really really loves the work and wants to learn more and try to work it into being more of a real job, the other part of me really really doesn't. It's simultaneously a lot more of a "real" job than an office job, and in so many ways it's sooo not a real job. Most often, when you are a stagehand, you *work*. It's physical labor and it can be really difficult physical labor. It can be really dangerous. But it can feel really rewarding to be actually tired out from *working*, as opposed to that kind of bored-tired that happens at a desk job. And some of it takes a lot of skill but most of it is a lot of grunt work, and it seems to be a tough fight to get to doing any of the skilled stuff. Some of the people you work with are trained professionals, some people you work with are dumber than rocks. Most everyone wants to work as many hours as they possibly can to make as much money as they possibly can. It all makes for a working environment that's really like no other.
I got cut at 1pm, others were overjoyed to know they'll be working until midnight tonight because they'll get time and a half after 8 hours (the call time was 8am). I got the call yesterday. Occassionally I've been laughed at when I've asked how long we're expected to be there. The answer is usually a derisive "'til it's done", so I often don't ask anymore. I don't really know how people can schedule their lives around this kind of work- I know that many of them have to have other plans and jobs and kids and things like that. So yeah, I like it, but it's weird.
I've realized that I've only ridden a bicycle for these two trips downtown this summer. I really have to ramp it up, or my legs are going to turn to jelly when I go to the desert in August...
So I got up really early this morning and rode my bicycle downtown and pushed around lots of heavy things (some Really Really Heavy Things) for Phantom of the Opera, which opens this week at the Orpheum. I think the final count for the trucks was 11. 11 semi-trucks full of mostly very big and heavy things. The Orpheum's stage is not very big, but this production sure is- that's as many or more trucks than some have needed for stadium rock shows. I had a call there on Saturday, too, for preproduction work, and there was one the day before that for other preproduction work. There must be tons of stagehand stuff going on between this and the Basillica block party and the convention center and Pantages; I've gotten three calls this week (missed one, though) and while I don't think I have the worst standing, I'm still an E-lister, which means I barely rank. I may have been on the D-list once, but I think I was bumped back down since I didn't take any union gigs when I was working my office job. Eh.
Being a roadie is weird. There's a part of me that really really loves the work and wants to learn more and try to work it into being more of a real job, the other part of me really really doesn't. It's simultaneously a lot more of a "real" job than an office job, and in so many ways it's sooo not a real job. Most often, when you are a stagehand, you *work*. It's physical labor and it can be really difficult physical labor. It can be really dangerous. But it can feel really rewarding to be actually tired out from *working*, as opposed to that kind of bored-tired that happens at a desk job. And some of it takes a lot of skill but most of it is a lot of grunt work, and it seems to be a tough fight to get to doing any of the skilled stuff. Some of the people you work with are trained professionals, some people you work with are dumber than rocks. Most everyone wants to work as many hours as they possibly can to make as much money as they possibly can. It all makes for a working environment that's really like no other.
I got cut at 1pm, others were overjoyed to know they'll be working until midnight tonight because they'll get time and a half after 8 hours (the call time was 8am). I got the call yesterday. Occassionally I've been laughed at when I've asked how long we're expected to be there. The answer is usually a derisive "'til it's done", so I often don't ask anymore. I don't really know how people can schedule their lives around this kind of work- I know that many of them have to have other plans and jobs and kids and things like that. So yeah, I like it, but it's weird.
I've realized that I've only ridden a bicycle for these two trips downtown this summer. I really have to ramp it up, or my legs are going to turn to jelly when I go to the desert in August...
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