Sorry...!

Yes, yes, yes... I know it has been ages since I wrote anything but alas, I finally am doing this now so you should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky...

Since the last blog the following has happened.

1) The lower camp shows happened: This means that I managerd to write, block, choreograph(yes, with help) design and directed just under 200 child in their own shows and the Parents loved it. There is something VERY special about a parent coming to congratulate you on your work with their child when you had no idea that their kid wouldn't even sing in front of their parents at home. That their kid was terrified of large groups or that their kid "hated" theatre and now loves it because of you.

2) Visiting day happened. This is what it sounds like all the parents and grandparents and brother/sisters of the campers come to camp to hang with their kids for the whole day. 2500 people all in one place is a wee bit weird, what is weirder is meeting all the kids parents, some you realise why they are the way they are and sometimes, maybe not.

3) Activities have continued with the children and working on their little performances that they do with each other in the camp. I have also been visiting cirvus so now know how to juggle which is a lovely new 'useless' skill to have.

4) Not a lot else really, just the usual. We have hit the halfway mark and are on the downward slope which is a weird feeling to have thinking that it seemed just like yesterday that we arrived.

5) I might be moving age groups to even younger kids.

6) I will be doing this again.

7) Have fun, peace out... see you soon.

Alive

First of all I am alive, lets just get that straight.

Right, now onto the reasons which you may of thought I was dead...

1)Carnival-So the easiest was to describe this is nine counsellors (me+8 others) had 1-2 hours sleep over 48 hours to get it all ready, it involves building, painting, driving, giggling, eating, trying not to cry from the lack of sleep and then having to learn lines and be out in the blazing sun for hours on end. It is intense stuff. This year the Carnival theme was TOY STORY, all the kids however seemed to think it was Star Wars, go figure! It was a day full of carnival booths, food and stalls and the kids generally seem to behave during it.

2) Lower camp show... here are some statistics of this monster... There are in excess of 150 lower campers all of each need to learn at least two songs, have solos, have their own costumes, make-up and hair, and you have pretty much one week to put it together after writing it yourself. Thank goodness there are people around to help. It's insane but good fun... so very little sleep is also happening at the moment.

That really is it to be honest, just the usual & unusual happening around camp, sing, lunch, dinner, activities and crying campers. Visiting day is in four days so that is going to be a barrell of fun no doubt.

Till next time

T

2nd in two days

Welcome to the 1st of July...

Wow a new blog in the space of two days.

What happened over night?

Not a lot really... today everyone seems to be battling the curse of the sleep demons and we are all falling asleep in really weird places, benches, backstage, floors, sound booths you name it we seem to be crashing a little too much today, must sleep early tonight.

Last night was the Staff Talent(less) he he he show for the Counsellors to perform for the kids and it was a great show with lots of talented people strutting their stuff.

WE get our first day off next week which is great news as we all need it, but none of us have any clue as to what we are going/want to do.

That is all i guess for now. Just busy at work, writing and rehearsing one show for the 7-9's age group about LOVE (vomitingly cute) and for the 10's a show about superheroes and supervillians. Both age groups are really into it and loving what they are doing so far.

On the weather front it is a little cooler today. Actually A LOT cooler...!

Hope everyone is well.

T

Finally an update

Hey Everyone...

I am finally getting a chance to update this thing and really actually tell you some stuff.

If you couldn't tell this year it is REALLY busy...after the little suprise of being made AD of the Playhouse (theatre) things really amped up which is fair enough, there is soooooo much talent here that needs to be shared and given out and I just want to make all the little monsters (kids-its like lady Gaga calls her monsters with affection)

What has been happening?

We have finished Orientation, obviously and it was really awesome this year, we were doing things that the campers were doing and just a whole lot of fun things. And I even wrote the opening of Orientation for the owners of the camp which went down a treat. Lots of highlights but one of them so far has to be the talent show. It was a blast, it was just for counsellors during orientation so I got to be the cheeky normal person I am and really live it up. People loved it and people commented on the different style which I had... Maybe there is a career in stand-up comedy for me... I doubt it.

Sing still happens every morning and by far it is bigger and louder than last year, may have something to do with there being more kids or just counsellors who love to belt out anything they possibly want at 9am in the morning...! 7:30am wake ups are still a real challenge everyday especially when you have to be up BEFORE the kids but that is something that you do get use to, even if it be slowly.

We started the 13/14's show rehearsals the other day with Auditions and it is going to be an amzing show for them. With lots of kids able to belt, hit really high notes and some really talented dancers I am looking forward to seeing it. I am designing it so that is something a little different for me to be doing but again, have to make it the best I possibly can.

We also began the TWO lower camp shows which I wrote for them. One is based around the universal theme of LOVE and the other is based around Superheroes and Supervillians. Both of the age groups are loving getting to be silly, weird, in love and be something that they are not. The younger kids are by far my favourite and again, so very, very talented.

Glee also started this week and what they say is true, this show has changed the way kids see and look at theatre and singing. They are really keen to get up, dance, sing and just be themselves now... more than ever!

We have had one day off so far which was great, went to chill out in Holyoake, spent over an hour in the APPLE store, then we went to Toy Story 3 and yes, yes, yes I cried, we all cried... we laughed at us crying but yes, we did cry.

And finally, just to make you all Jealous today is the FIRST DAY since I got here where you needed something more than a tshirt and shorts for the first part of the morning!! It is beautiful, no rain (except a little at night) and gorgeous SUN, SUN, SUN every single day!

Still miss ya all, you always do, no matter how many times you do this you just can't help it. But this year is bigger, brighter and just a total blast...

Can you catch the Magic?

Just quickly now...

As you can see so far these 'blogs' come at a particular time which is quite early in the morning! Before Breakfast, what has been going on? I know you are all DESPERATE to find out!






Well...




Um...

Orientation is still going with topics such as bullying, discipline & other enticing treats such as these. Work has started on shows in the Playhouse, well at least the pre-planning stages. Today we move into our bunks, this will be bunk move number 3... but this will be our home for the summer, or at least 4 weeks. I have been here over a week now and yet again I have been sucked into the world of how amazing this really is and how unique and just down right special it is. There are NO words to describe the feeling that camp gives you and the feeling of making a difference in some little ga-ga-monsters life!

Staff Talent show is tonight so who knows what will come out and be discovered about people...

Since it is all pretty much still the big O'tion, there isn't a lot to say but just you wait, just to wait till next week... that's when the fun really begins... 4 days and counting!

Day... Um... What?

I think it is now day 5... But I have totally lost track of what day of the week it is let alone what number it is! There is literally now ONE WEEK until the camp get swarmed with 460 campers which will increase the amount of people living here to 700!

A random fact for you- 1000 Grilled Cheese are made everytime that option is given for lunch... which is a truck load of bread~literally!

What has been happening well we are still in the full swing of orientation... Yesterday was the infamous gender split, girls its the boobs and other girly things talk and for boys it's, well, in very basic terms, the sex talk, and no... not the where do babies come from talk, more about teenage boy things and how to handle them if and when they arise (excuse the pun!?) Last night was the first pool party down at the lake with a Hawiaan style theme, pools were open, music was playing, people were buzzing and as they only do in America, an obscene amount of Pizza arrived and by Obscene it worked out to one pizza between two (or felt like it) and the pizza boxes were gigantic (Americans reading this they were probably small) but for New Zealanders the Pizza boxes are/were the 50cm by 50cm... and the Pizza was square, just so the box was full!

Today is another AMAZINGLY sunny, warm and gorgeous day already and it is only 7:45am. The sun is and has been shining each day so far with just one Thunderstorm last night which was a little bit of a suprise.

And that is about it... Things happen that are so small that you don't feel like writing about them and then there are the things that are massive but a little too massive to write in here, but no doubt when I start to run outta things to say then they will come up.

Right off to Breakfast we go.

Twists and Turns

Right so what has been happening you are all wondering!? Here is the down-low...

Lots of focus over the past few days has been on getting us ready for the kids arriving and although this can sound tedious,boring and long winded (like last year,self admitted by staff) this year it has been funked up to the eighties, nineties or whatever you wanna call it.

Games, insanity and other things are causing chaos, but would we want it any other way. We had our first age group meetings and our first activity group meetings. The Playhouse (Theatre) is HUUUUGE this year, I think there are 16 people working in it which is gigantic! In another twist of things, I was approached and asked to be the A.D of the entire thing... What the? Where did that come from? So now not only is there the looking after of a bunch of ten year olds and directing the two shows that they wanted me to do but now I am Co-Directing the oldest kids, designing sets and the likes and also when Cynthia isn't here I am meant to run the thing! WOW! They obviously thought I can handle it, and ya know what- I totally can! However, what is the one thing we HAVE to remember about orientation...You MUST always Pee in the middle of the stake and you must NEVER Pee on a senior staff members stake.

That is all for today, and ya know what, there is going to be plenty more to come. FOR SURE!

Into the big O we go...

And so it has begun,

As literally hundreds of people arrived (and that just being the counsellors yesterday) it only meant one thing, it was all about to start. And start it did.

In the morning there were still only a few handfuls of people around, when to our suprise a truck arrived and offloaded something rather large, blue and yellow... we waited to see what it was. Over the next five or so minutes it got bigger and bigger and bigger until what was standing in front of us was a giant (and I mean giant) Bouncy Castle? What? A Bouncy Castle? What on earth does a bouncy castle have to do with camp? Nothing! Exactly! It was literally a throw away comment by a returned counsellor on Facebook that camp should have a Bouncy Castle and low-and-behold it does!

After the excitement of what can only be called as a childhood throwback things got down to business, tables were mixed up, new people met new people, old met new, old re-ignited flames with old. Until finally, Age groups and bunks were assigned and they say your wishes don't come true, well mine did. I have the ten year old, am in The Playhouse, and generally have a good feeling about this year, and guess what! The sun is shining too!

What else is there to say? Oh yes that's right... someone, yes me... was given the task of helping write the OPENING moments of camp which was a "press conference" they asked me because they thought I was creative...!? Anyway, the idea was that it was to start serious and get funnier as I went along however in true Tim fashion things don't come out of this mouth which are general audience funny so it was the hardest thing. So I sat with the two camp directors trying to be PG-rated funny until we got there in the end. So the big night came, everyone was packed into the gym bunk and Jill & Mark took their places and our little "actors" jumped up... Mr Director... Mr Director... and from there it was on. It was going. It was terrifying!!!! What if people didn't find this funny? But alas they did... And even things that the heads of camp weren't too sure about were massive hits... Gotta love a good ol' Pop 'n Lock joke!

From there were had Sing, which never ceases to amaze me in the fact that getting 200 people to sing songs about a bloody Aardvark or a lonesome meatball works over in the country and works beyond belief! Then a Campfire with smores and then bed!

Action packed day yesterday with lots of things to do and get up to and today (its currently 7:17am!!) we have even more things to do! Sing-again, presentations, age-groups,activities,swim tests, its busy, busy, busy! Best start ever to the day and just keep this on the down-low, work up at 6:30am... How come I can do this here easily...? And had the hottest, longest shower ever! Thanks Camp Taconic, I owe you one!

Arrived

Hi everyone,

I have arrived, after a twelve hour flight with a crying baby the WHOLE time, a ten hour lay-over a 5 hours flight with a cat next to me, a two hour lay-over, delayed plane, two hours on a plane, two hours in a van to camp and I have made it. Exhausted, tired and slightly dying inside.

It is just how it was last year, the set-up couple of new building and the likes but it is great! Very positive vibe around the place too which is great! Lots of laughs and lets face it being welcomed back to open arms was nothing short of lovely and awesome.

It is currently 11pm on a Tuesday night, (not sure what the time-stamp will say) so it should be bedtime but I have been sitting working on a top secret mission.

Day off tomorrow to script write, plan and sort out the TWO lower camp shows.

Hope everyone is well!

2010...

So here we go... the forty hours of travelling, the weird feeling of just being stuck in a tube and the horrible thing of leaving what you know behind and going out into the big wide world of scariness!

Throw this into your bookmarks now as this is how I will update things, and maybe if your lucky you will get a personal email at some stage...!