Saturday, 21 July, 2012
Naturally, the first stop was the Farmer's Market. However, after a week of tourism and birthday I let myself sleep in as late as I possibly could, which doesn't combine well with arriving at a morning market. In fact, I got there at 1:00 for a 2:00 end time, but everyone always packs up early. Oh well. Just a few notes:
1. A young couple recognized Twin Peaks and started dancing to it. Nice.
2. I had a nice long talk with an older gentleman with a perfect grandfatherly outfit including a tweed jacket and cap. He asked if I could play "Under Paris Skies." Nope. "Satin Doll." My quartet had sung it with the Clark University Jazz Ensemble (shamelessly napedropping), but my keyboard rendition of the Alto II line didn't satisfy him. His next requests were "Deil Among the Tailors" and "Triste Sourise," by the Black Isle Band. I showed him my set list and let him choose, and he commented that all those songs were too modern. I offered the ne'er-played "Never on Sunday" and "The Way You Look Tonight," but he chose "La Vie en Rose." Good choice, since it's one of my ace songs. Oh, and before I identified myself as American his guess for my ethnicity was Austrian. That's a new one!
3. As usual, I was next to the "Seriously Good Venison" stand, and I read their haggis sign more closely. I was amused by the catchphrase "Stag-geringly good haggis." Had I just played at the market today, this post would be called "Stag-geringly Good Accordion."
4. Luckily I wasn't too late for ALL of my kids. Brianna and her dad came, and she was dressed for summer! No more red raincoat; today she wore a purple sundress. I love that she just knows what to do. She came over and picked up Flaca and gave her dad the shakers. She had them switch jobs a few times, and did such a good job on both. I actually talked to the dad a bit this time. During "Wallace and Gromit" she stopped shaking and just looked right at the accordion, as if deep in thought. Her dad asked if she recognized the song and she indicated that she didn't, but it turned out they had watched some W&G that morning! Excellent choice.
And then the market closed. The venison vendor, not George, acknowledged my late arrival (as did Kat, "Good morning!" "Good AFTERNOON!") and teased me about having a crazy Friday night. Not so. Headed to Princes St. to do a couple errands and eat my lunch in the park before going to the Mile, but then I decided to chicken out and stay in New Town to play. Out of what I was chickening was of course dealing with Heather, the loon on the loom. If this was a territory war with long-term effects, I would be there dealing with it, getting yelled at, feeling scared, and putting my claim on the spot. However, there are about ten days left until the Fringe, six of which I'll be away for, then the spots are assigned for August. Then in September I assume I won't have much trouble! Therefore, it's not worth my time, and not worth the risk that Heather may snap one of my limbs in half. I can make money elsewhere. And so I set up on that other street, a block away from where the duet was singing. I want to find them and talk more and become a singing trio!
21 July, Part II
i. I had to go to Primark to exchange some tights. To do so, I had to walk by the hair accessories area. And guess what I saw! A piano headband!! Really! It's plastic and about an inch wide. Perfect. This was such a wonderful discovery, because I never go into Primark, or any other shops for that matter. I never would have seen it. I'm really surprised I didn't have that idea myself. Bought two, since one is bound to break. Here's a picture. Maybe I'll get some piano key Converse sneakers or something too!
1. An older man stopped in front of me, standing perfectly sideways. I assumed he was hesitant about whether or not he actually wanted to listen, but after a song he explained to me that he's pretty much deaf in the other ear. Aha!
2. Even though it's not ready yet, I tried out "Call Me Maybe." The good thing about busking near Princes St. is that there is no shortage of teenagers, and several seemed to recognize this "song."
3. One man on a bike recognized "What is Love?" Definitely glad to have it back!
4. There were hen parties everywhere! Most were pretty normal, although I saw one group in medical-themed costumes, and another in no-themed costumes. However, only one went by me, and they didn't acknowledge the song. At all. Lame. Denied! This reminded me, however, of Dieter's suggestion that I turn the wedding march into a funeral march. Or at least start playing it in minor. It would entertain me, at least, to do just that when they don't tip.
5. A possibly drunk guy asked "What tunes can you play?" but then didn't stick around to choose one or hear one!
6. I talked to a couple who saw my loan sign. The woman asked, "Have you got a job?" in a way that implied I really should, and I found myself defending my busking choice for the first time in a while!
7. There's a fellow who unicycles around Edinburgh. I see him every so often, and he sees me, but we've never talked. He went by today and just gave a nice, knowing wave, acknowledging that we both do see each other. We must be kindred spirits.
8. Someone walked by with his hand in his pocket, jiggling change. Of course, I thought I might get a cut, but I played a bad wrong note when he was right in front of me. He didn't tip. He wasn't going to anyway, but the timing was kind of funny.
9. It was really weird, everyone was wearing Madonna t-shirts. Sometimes I'll see a heightened amount of Ghostbusters (yep, that came out "Ghostbuskers" at first) or something shirts, but never this quantity. There must have been a sale on Madonna shirts somewhere. Weird.
10. Ah yes, my note say, "enthusiastic mullet tipper." That's all there is to the story, a guy in a mullet tipped me really enthusiastically. Like threw it in from a great distance.
11. I talked to a couple who kept asking me questions, but interrupting each other. One was asking how long it took to make the dress. They agreed that I would make a lot of money playing at Murrayfield. Like, the stadium? Weird. But okay.
12. Wonderful group of drunk people. Girl next to me dancing. A guy saw my sign and asked, clear as day, "Why are you smoking, Fophie?" (That would have been the name of this post if I didn't want the title to be about Madonna.) He asked where I was from, and I said, "The United States." He got excited, and declared, "There's a guy over there eating mussels and he's from LA!!" High five. No really, he put his hand up for a high five. The third woman excitedly told me that they had come in to see the Madonna concert that night at the Murrayfield stadium. Ah, suddenly it all made sense!
13. With this information about the reasoning behind the Madonna shirts, I pulled "Like a Prayer" out of the "semi-retired" and "to-learn" lists. I was able to wing it pretty well, and I was happy that a girl wearing an "I <3 Madge" shirt got her party to sing along. Instead of scanning the incoming pedestrians for hen parties or the like, I started scanning for Madonna shirts. Fun to have a nice diversion like this!
14. Three or four middle-aged people stopped by, and one man asked if I could do "Smoke on the Water." I did it very badly. The other man asked if I could do "Angels" by Robbie Williams, and I said no. His wife jested that he take his money back out of the box. They revealed as they departed that I look like one couple's daughter!
15. I witnessed a guy's embarrassing moment: he took something out of his pocket and something else fell out too. His "friend" was fortunately ahead of him, but he and I could both see that what he bent to pick up were CONDOMS. I decided a second too late that I ought to have commented. Hope they were put to use tonight! ;)
16. An older man stopped to listen wearing a red Ferrari shirt. Of course it was the car logo, but there is also an accordion brand called "Ferarri." He and I talked a bit, since he plays a button accordion that he bought used for £1,700. Damn. He's from Belfast, and is up for the weekend. We talked more, but I forget about what.
17. On his heels were two young men. The first asked if I could do "Stairway to Heaven." I cannot. Denied! (Get the reference?? I foreshadowed this by sneaking it in earlier too. "Denied!" was also in the running for Post Title, but Madonna trumps everything.) The second guy asked for Lionel Richie. Denied! Then Marvin Gaye. I tried "Heard it Through the Grapevine," but it didn't go well. I should learn it! I offered Al Green instead, so that worked. They invited me to come have a drink with them, selling themselves with a promise to sing karaoke. Almost tempting enough to pack up.
18. I can't read the next note. It might say "feathers." This would make sense, because red feathers from a hen party's boas kept floating by, but this shouldn't have made it into the notebook. Not sure what else it would be! Definitely starts with "fea."
19. It was strange, my pinky wasn't working! It has a very important part in the bass line of "Werewolves of London," one of the few songs where it has to push its own button. But today, for whatever reason, it just wasn't hitting it. Maybe it shrunk in the last week.
20. I got a great thumbs up from a kid. He was walking with his parents who didn't give me a second look, and his smile and gesture seemed so secretive and perhaps rebellious. Love that.
21. Two [gay?] guys came by me dancing, and yelled, "DO YOU NEED DANCERS??" Always! But don't tell Flaca.
22. Three separate parties asked me where to find restaurants: one a pub, one a Halal place, and the third a Chinese restaurant. The third party was seemingly Chinese. Come on, you're in Scotland, have some haggis!
23. Several ped-cabs were going by, preparing for Saturday night shenanigans. One driver looked familiar. He stopped to talk, and I remembered that he is Carlos, someone I knew in my very first stage of life in Edinburgh. I spent my first 10 days in a hostel, and befriended a bunch of Spanish people, especially Nacho. Carlos and Nacho are friends from home in Spain, and both came here for work. Small city, funny I hadn't seen him again sooner. He reported that Nacho is back in Spain.
24. For much of the afternoon I was set up outside a certain bakery. I was closest to big windows that show a glimpse into the kitchen, and I had an idea. I flipped to a blank page in my notebook and wrote, in big letters, "Can I have an unsold cupcake at 5:00? It's my birthday week!" I abandoned my stuff for a second to walk over, press the note against the window, and knock. One woman read it and gave me a thumbs up. All right!! I figured it was pressing my luck to write another note asking her to deliver it, so I packed up and went in at 5:00 to claim it. I explained it to the guy in front, and he was sympathetic but said they don't close until 6:00. Damn! And they were quite busy so they might sell out. Oh well, worth a try. It's not like I needed cake after two days of birthday!
25. My toes were really hurting! It was weird, I had socks under tights and usually it's slightly annoying but fine, but they really hurt today. Also, my face hurt. I thought it was just normal smiling, but remembered that I'm having allergies issues, so my sinuses are sore. Denied!
I was going to stop at 7:00. I was tired and I had blogging to do! But it was super busy and I was still making money, so I decided to have a break then play another set. However, the conditions weren't perfect after the break. There was one homeless person in the spot I had just vacated, and another in my first spot. I set up between the two, but a man came over and said he was about to set up there. I immediately backed down and we had a nice talk. Going to your spot and seeing someone you've never seen before in it is something I'm all too familiar with! This gentleman is named Gary, and is one of a couple guys who plays in this part of town in the evenings. It really is a whole other busking world, across town. Nice to have another friendly connection!
It also had slowed down a bit, probably since people were having dinner. I didn't want to go straight home since I had justified paying for some food with the fact that I'd do another set, so I decided to be brave and go to the Mile. Surely by 7:30 Heather would have left!
There were a couple guitar players out, but sure enough I got my spot. Awesome. Pretty slow on the Mile though, especially for a beautiful Saturday night.
26. I met a piper from Glasgow who plays a different kind of bagpipes. They're more typical of the lowlands, and they are fueled by an actual bellows, such as the kind you use at your fireplace. Cool! He showed me, they were quite magnificent.
27. I had to defend my job choice for a second time! "Three-year degree to be on the street busking?" Nope, FOUR-year degree!
Right away, I glanced to my left and saw that Heather was indeed there! Ahhhh! Not playing or anything, just talked to people. I immediately felt my body react; my heartbeat drowned out my accordion, I got lightheaded from all the extra adrenaline. I like to think of myself as a brave person; why does she scare me as much as she does? The positive effect of her presence was that I played well. I really focused on playing well and looking good to prove to her that I'm a competent busker. I also wanted to prove that I know the locals, and haven't just arrived in town, so I was glad when one of the vendors she had been talking to walked by and waved to me. King Louis was out and talking to her, so I was hoping he said something along the lines of, "Do you know Sophie? She's the best, super deserving of a good pitch, but don't mess with her!! If you make her mad then you'll have Barack Obama to deal with" or something. I texted Tom to see if he was out so he could come by and publicly display our friendship. Thank the stars up above, she didn't come and talk to me. By which I mean yell at me. I'm not sure what she would have said, but I practiced many responses. After less than an hour of playing my nerves got the better of me and I packed up. Escaped. Before she DID come talk to me. I considered doing a poor job packing up; just throwing everything in the box and carrying it, the wheels, and the accordion all loose while faking a very important phone call in Spanish and power-walking away, then fixing the setup behind the cathedral. Packing up gave her time when I wasn't playing, and thus in the position of power, to come assault me.
This evening session didn't do anything for my stories or income, but I'm hoping it will help in the long run having had Heather see me in action. Maybe she'll be more sympathetic. Or, more likely, maybe I'll be less scared. I just have to be so careful not to respond to her aggression with my own aggression, or lie and say I'm Swiss. She has been a good lesson to me in how to act towards other buskers. I don't terrify them, but I could definitely be nicer. We all have to get along!
Tomorrow I'm booked to play the Stockbridge market, yahoo! I was supposed to go last Sunday but didn't. Hope the rain holds off!
Till next time.
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