I was on the other side hiding under a tree since it had started briefly drizzling. It was fun to be slightly hidden! I forgot my kazoo, much to the relief of the Chocolate Tree guy, but it was okay. Tried my new arrangement of "Final Countdown" anyway. Hoping to have it ready for "Uke Boogie Night" (see Feb. 14th post) on Tuesday night. I didn't stay for long, since the market was packing up, but it was nice to look at the castle for once!
Saturday, June 9, 2012:
1. Saw one older woman who I recognized (she also wears purple mary-janes). She noticed that I had added new things since she last saw me! Glad someone did!
2. I had a visit from a little girl who I think is named Briana and her dad. Last time I met them, the little girl danced and danced, shouting "Dance!" to her father. Today was exactly the same, her brown curls bounced from beneath her bicycle helmet. She stayed in my custody while her dad went to run and get burgers before the market closed, so I played my fastest danciest songs: Beer Barrel Polka, Funiculi Funicula, and Tico Tico. Flaca got quite the workout, being jerked up and down and dragged on the ground. I have to remember to glue her hat back on. So cute, it's nice to have regular kids!
3. Philip and I tried playing together, but we couldn't always get in the same key. We did have a nice rendition of "I'll Tell Me Ma," which didn't sound bad!
4. As we were packing up, a group of strangely-dressed people came over and told us they had to do some silly things for a project. It seems it was a charity event, since they had a "Marie Curie Cancer Cure" collection tin. One was wearing a dog outfit with gold tights. They asked if they could play instruments, and took a photo with one playing Philip's whistle, one playing the keyboard of my accordion, and the other two with percussion. They all actually played for a second while taking the still photograph, which made a terrible yet wonderful cacophony.
5. Lastly, as we were really packing up, an older man who had been watching all of this presented us with two coffee cups containing a mysterious white liquid. He explained that it was a milkshake! We were right in front of the "police box coffee" stand! Awesome. Who needs haggis when you can have a milkshake?
That's all for part one. We were sure it was going to start raining, so we decided to go right to the Royal Mile and set up again before the rain started. We walked through the Grassmarket, and decided just to play there. I haven't been doing well on the RM, so why not try something new? Since getting back from my trip, I've noticed extra things now gracing the city for tourist season. Stadium seating set up around the castle for the military tattoo performances, a Moroccan market in the Grassmarket, extra cash machines and public toilets, etc. Today, there was a Ben and Jerry's truck with a long line. It appeared that there were selling only pints of Karamel Sutra. Okay, ice cream = kids. (Edit: my roommate Elia just asked if I saw the free ice cream truck. She got one! Yeahh!!) Philip and I parted ways to do our things. I stayed near the truck, which actually packed up right away. I hate the Grassmarket, because it is full of bars and drunk people. It's generally just gross and annoying, which is unfortunate because the facades and plaza make the area quite picturesque.
6. The most prominent thing in the area was a bachelor party all dressed as [Where's] Waldo. As I was setting up across the street from the patio where they were guzzling beer, they took out a beige something and began dressing up the man I took to be the groom. Of course, it was a big inflatable penis. Classy. Of course, Penis man came over to me and rather than talking or tipping, he used the costume to enact a quite inappropriate activity at my expense. His friends chortled and he returned to the group. This is why I hate the Grassmarket. Later, one of his friend did come over and dance while I played, throwing a few coins in. Well that's good. But penis man did continue to get more attention than I did, running around, whooping, and posing for pictures with countless tourists. Who wants that picture?? I got mad and eventually packed up just because I couldn't compete. Nor did I want to look at it anymore.
7. I was trying to appeal to the young crowds and play pop songs, but I was also aware of the older folks in the vicinity, so I tried to throw in the occasional "Fly Me To the Moon" to please them as well. This one old couple was sitting and listening, but not tipping. Then finally they did tip when I didn't expect them to: during "The Final Countdown." They came to talk afterwards, and the man said that he's a musician as well, playing saxophone and clarinet. I couldn't really understand what he was saying, something his wife picked up on and tried to discreetly translate. He said something about the Beatles, and something about making £650 during the Fringe last year. Awesome.
8. A guy wearing a Red Sox hat was walking by, so I yelled "Go Boston!" as I occasionally do. He stopped to talk, and it turns out he and his friend are from Connecticut. Cool!
We were going to play once more on the Royal Mile after lunch, but after lounging on the Meadows with our picnic, we really couldn't be bothered. Oh, well. But we did walk down it, and talked to the silver-faced Dieter! Got some good busking tips from him, which I'll write about another time when it isn't time to make Burritos. Till next time!
Note about the title: when the bachelor party was discussed via photo comments on facebook, a friend made this pun. I guess "Where's Waldo?" is called "Where's Wally?" over here, hence the wordplay.
No comments:
Post a Comment