This is the current horn section on my ship: collectively the best I’ve worked with, I think. One of the perks, I guess, of a crappy economy is that better and better musicians are taking ship jobs.

Once a week we have a jazz jam in the piano bar. I guess it’s a compliment to my cartooning that Ekim, the trombonist, sent this picture to his girlfriend, and she later called, demanding to know why he was “flirting with a white lady” in this picture. Oops! So at some point, I have to get on the phone with the two of them and defend his honor. There’s always one music-loving guest who sits directly in front of the horn section and looks blissed-out for a couple of hours.