Introducing Myself

[kyle in norcal]

i just wanted to drop in real quick-like and say hello.

my name is kyle, and i live in sacramento, ca

ive been a looooooong time lurker at gCaptain and thought that before i just start jumping into threads with questions and opinions, i should at least introduce myself.

a breif about-me: im 25, and while ive never worked at sea, it was always the dream of mine to work in the deck department of a merchant vessel since i was 5 years old. just like a lot of you guys, the ocean liners of old lit the fire under my arse. my room was wallpapered with pictures of ships id drawn, cut out of magazines, cruise brochures, etc. i had hoped to attend CMA(since its right down the road), but my senior year of high school my band got signed to a major label, and the lure of music, touring and ladies got me sidetracked(can you blame me?). after that fell apart i met my wife, and now have my wonderful 3.5yr old daughter, so for now at least, any hope of going to sea is on hold for at least 14.5 years(barring any more happy "whoopsies" lol).

i still follow the maritime industry very closely via gCap and many other blogs/publications, and thanks to wonderful sites such as this, with all of your guys' experience just laid out on the table for others to sift through, i consider myself fairly well-versed in this wonderful profession(well, as well-versed as a landlubber can be). im excited to be able to pick your brains and ask opinions, since for now, my ship fix comes from driving 15min to the Port of Sacramento and watching the Handysize breakbulk carriers load rice destined for far off Asian ports.

see you on the forum!

kyle

[Shellback]

Welcome Kyle, ask away...

BTW, would we know any of your songs?

[RDEagan]

Welcome. I just got here myself so won't be answering any questions, but will definitely read the responses!

Ryan

[kyle in norcal]

Shellback: probably not. we were never superstars, or even halfway stars. you think the maritime industry is cutthroat? try music. haha. if you live in the US and you get the cable-tv channel "Vs." (versus) theres a made for tv movie called "blue mountain state" (think american pie, van wilder) thats gonna have 2.5min of one of our songs in it, but thats about as much play as we get these days. its supposed to air sometime in Jan.

RD: ive been reading your thread, and ill continue following it. it looks like were on the same path, youre just a few years ahead of me. ill let you do all the hard work and ill jsut follow your example. haha

kyle

[RDEagan]

Shellback: probably not. we were never superstars, or even halfway stars. you think the maritime industry is cutthroat? try music. haha. if you live in the US and you get the cable-tv channel "Vs." (versus) theres a made for tv movie called "blue mountain state" (think american pie, van wilder) thats gonna have 2.5min of one of our songs in it, but thats about as much play as we get these days. its supposed to air sometime in Jan.

RD: ive been reading your thread, and ill continue following it. it looks like were on the same path, youre just a few years ahead of me. ill let you do all the hard work and ill jsut follow your example. haha

kyle

Sounds good Funny, too. The best man at my 2nd wedding is a big band manager in LA. Just went out to visit him in November and hung out with Slash, Janie Lane, CC Deville, Gunnar Nelson, Kip Winger and a bunch of other guys. He represents about 15 of the 80s hair bands. I've been hanging around that end of the music biz for about 5 years. No talent to actually DO it, but had a ton of fun watching it and hanging out with the guys. Now it's time to do what I really love!

Ryan

[kyle in norcal]

Ryan: well lucky that these days it doesnt really take much talent to make it, lol.

you know, some of those old (musical) salts have a few stories that im sure will rival the stories of squalls and pirates told here.

kyle

[RDEagan]

Yes, there were some stories.. I stayed at the 'Riot Hyatt' on Sunset strip where Keith Richards threw the TV out of the window and Led Zep used to rent the 11th floor. The hotel has gone way upscale now, but they still have tons of pics on the walls. Plus it's right down the street from the Roxy, Whiskey, Key Club, Rainbow, etc where all the good shit happened

Ryan

[kyle in norcal]

"all the good shit" is an understatement.

ive had many, many a drunken night stumbling down hollywood blvd.

[dougpine]

Hi Kyle, greetings from a guitar slinger and mariner. Both bidnesses are tough these days! Welcome to the forum, thanks for introducing yourself. There is a thread here somewhere where people have posted links to their music and / or favorite music, songs of the sea, etc. Post some of your stuff too!

--Doug

[Ordinaryseaman]

Welcome aboard! My last ship had about 50 people from Sacramento

[kyle in norcal]

OS: doesnt surprise me. most people wanna get outta here. Herr Governator has made it just a taaaaaad hard to survive nowadays, but thats a whole different forum.

kyle

[trekleader]

OS: doesnt surprise me. most people wanna get outta here. Herr Governator has made it just a taaaaaad hard to survive nowadays, but thats a whole different forum.

kyle

Sacramento sucked before Arnold got there...

[kyle in norcal]

trekleader: yeah, well.........well.....i guess i really dont have anything for that. try living here for 25 years. lol.

on the upside, we have a deepwater port for me to go shipspotting, and im only 90mi from the bay to go grab some chinese and watch the BIIIIIIIG BOOOYS tie up.

kyle

[RDEagan]

I was born and raised in Santa Cruz. Didn't get to Sac much, but did spend alot of time as a kid watching the ships in San Fran. Guess I always had salt water in my veins..

Ryan

[trekleader]

San Fran.

C'mon, Ryan, WTF...

'San Fran'?

[Ordinaryseaman]

Kyle-

I always assumed there were so many people on my ship from Sacramento because it was a nice place- I guess that's what you get when you assume... I've never been to California except LA, San Francisco and San Diego- all of which were nice- if a little rough

[RkyMtn Paul]

What, you missed Long Beach, Richmond and Oakland???

[Ordinaryseaman]

I went to Long Beach- my first ship docked/was christened in San Pedro- after the Panama Canal- and before sailing to Kauai. I was expecting it to be ghetto- but it was pretty nice- especially the "Pike" area

[Shellback]

What, you missed Long Beach, Richmond and Oakland???

Ah, the true garden spots of California...

[RDEagan]

C'mon, Ryan, WTF...

'San Fran'?

LOL.. sorry, was 1:30 in the morning and I was typing half-asleep.. SAN FRANCISCO.. happy?