End of Tour

It has been quite a while since I have post a blog and sometimes it is hard to get started again. So much has gone on and so much to say it is hard to know where to start. Having finished up the Make It Matter tour today made it a little easier to get started. We got home this morning and dropped off all the gear and the audio and lighting providers.

Here is our end of tour picture. We had a great tour with Natalie Grant, Chris Sligh, and Meredith Andrew. I also had an amazing crew that worked very hard everyday. Chris Lighthall is one of the most talented lighting designers I have ever worked with. He has a strong work ethic and the end result is always top notch. Nicole Phillips came out as the system tech and worked harder everyday than I have seen someone work in a long time. She is going to be in our industry for a long time and before you know it she just might be tour managing your tour.

It is always bitter sweet to see the end of tour to come. After traveling together for a couple of months once again I have some new family members. I will miss the group we had on the road, but look forward to the next tour that comes along.

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Since there are no classes or books to learn the art of production management it is not easy to acquire all of the skills and knowledge needed to be the best at what we do. I am always looking for new ways to do things, methods to refine and hone my craft. One way to do that is to seek out those who are successful and have expertise we are looking to obtain. In order to master this career I must continually be a student. This past week I had an incredible opportunity to shadow the production manager for Celine Dion.

I arrived promptly at 7:30 am at the arena seeing the 18 semi trucks lined up waiting for load in to start. I checked in with security and met the production manager. Rick Mooney was his name. Rick gave me the overview of the day as we walked out to the arena floor. As I looked around the riggers were already calculating all the points and marking the floor. The 96 local crew were already starting to arrive.

From the moment the truck doors opened I could see a different level of focus. This was a well oiled finely tuned machine. The logistical organization of the load in was immaculate. It was only a short time before the entire arena floor was full of gear and everything was coming together.






Once a good portion of the load in was complete Rick had time to sit down and let me pick his brain. We swapped some road stories, he told me all kinds of great things about putting the Celine Las Vegas show together. Rick allowed me to talk about some of the finer points of production management. I learned a few pointers here and there, but the greatest thing I walked away with was confirmation. Many of the things we talked about confirmed that I was definitely on the right track and already doing the right things instinctively in my career. That is a great feeling.


Before I knew it 5 hours had passed and the local crew was being cut with 18 trucks full of production in place ready to go. That was amazing. It was not long before system tuning and lighting focus were happening. Then sound check.




Sound check lasted almost right until doors. After that people started filing in and the show was starting. From the start this show was amazing. For those of you geeks like me there were 8 lines of Meyer Mica with 20 boxes per line. 24 double 18 subs on the floor and 24 in the air. For you super geeks none of the boxes were looped, each one had it's own drive line. I couldn't even count all the lights. There was LED on the stage flooring, projection at the top and Mi-strips. Every aspect of the production was ridiculously amazing.





Celine is one of the most amazing artists I have ever had the opportunity to see live. She captivated the audience and her voice was unbelievable.






Before I knew it the night was over and Celine was saying good night. This day has re-energized me and given me a vision for what hard work can do. One day I would love to be apart of a production at that level. It reminded me that this is an exciting journey that we never know where it will take us. I look forward to seeing the doors that God opens in the future.

Casual Sunday

Today was a rare treat for me today. I was in town and able to attend my home church. We have a great service it was such a job to just participate and not have any work responsibilities whatsoever. After the service I met some friends at Genghis Grill for a great lunch and time of catching up.

After lunch we went out to Radnor Park to take some pictures. It has changed a good bit since I was last there first of November. The thing I noticed the most was the 34 degree temperature. Good thing I was bundled up...too bad I did not bring any gloves.

Next thing I noticed was the leaves were gone. The best way to illustrate is through pictures. The first photo is from November when the leaves were changing. The second photo from today.



David got his new Nikon D80 which is the same camera I had so it was good to get to pass along some pointers on how the camera works and some photography techniques that others have passed along to me. We started with the road and the use of angles. I chose the low angle.



Next we wanted to shoot a subject since Nicole was cold and already started walking I chose her as the subject. There was nothing really special about this photo when it was shot so sometimes you have to resort to a little post production.




Down the road just a little way we came to the lake. We had our choice to shoot dirt or ducks. I thought ducks to be more interesting.




After walking down the road a little more we again ran out of subjects to shoot so guess who...yep we again turned to Nicole.






Since it was 34 degrees we decided to call it quits a little early. On the way out we were talking about how we normally see deer and we had not seen any. David was bummed that we did not see a single deer. We said our goodbyes and as we drove out of the park I stopped the car so that I could get this...



For me today was one of those rare days that I just enjoyed. No phone calls, emails, or work responsibilities looming over me. I need to find a way to have more days like today.

Predators Hockey

Tonight was a rare treat. I went to a Nashville Predators hockey game with friends. It was an awesome game that ended with a 4-1 victory for the Predators. It was so much fun learning all the hockey calls and all the cheers. I might have to start going to more games.

Farnsworth Guys Day Out

Today was officially Farnsworth guys day out. All the Farnsworth men met this morning for a hardy breakfast at our local favorite The Sheik.

The it was off to the Jacksonville Fairgrounds to attend the Southern Classic Gun and Knife Show. There were people everywhere as well as any and all guns or knives you can imagine.

It wouldn't be guys day out without a good hamburger and what better place to go than Five Guys Burgers.

Finally we went to look at some motorcycles.

Preston really liked the 4-Wheelers...UNTIL




He got to hop on the hog with grandpa.


This concludes Farnsworth Guys Day Out. Great weather and good times makes it a day to remember.

Vacation with the Fam

I am in Jacksonville, FL visiting my parents, my brother and his family. I do not get to come home often so this is a treat. Although it is Christmas time the weather was sunny and 80 degrees today. With that in mind we decided to combine the best of both worlds and head to the zoo. You might be wondering how do you combine the best of both worlds...well there is the zoo and being outdoors and then there is




So what could be better than hanging with Santa, eating some cookies, and seeing some amazing animals.




Here are a couple of my favorite animals from today.





What American doesn' t love the national symbol of our country the Bald Eagle.





It wouldn't be Florida if I didn't see some alligators.





Gotta check out the sssssssnakes.





Another lighting guy for the crew. (you should see him do the robot)

Good Times

Sometimes you don't have anything to blog about so you just sit back and remember the good times you have had on tour with friends. Here is Culmer conducting diplomatic relations with the World Vision Korea Children's Choir Staff. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.