"Not Very Ambitious"

Today was possibly my penultimate Saturday in Edinburgh :(  Boo-hoo!  I went out today with a new setlist, which I really didn't like!  Since I get sick of playing the same songs in the same order, I had the idea to create five "pods" of seven songs each.  Those seven are always a team, and I'll arrange the pods in a different order every outing to spice things up.  I meticulously prepared them, noting key, tempo, origin, and even theme, but still managed to do a poor job of choosing complementary songs.  The original idea was to only have five songs in each pod, but it was mathematically easier to do seven, which sort of defeated the purpose.  I missed my old order, but didn't know it quite well enough to wing it.

I began at the market, as usual, at the far end.  East Coast Organics had spread way out of their stall, so Kat the Big Issue seller was where I usually go, and there was another musician in the middle.  It was allover a pretty boring day, so this should be a quick post, I hope.

Saturday, 15 September, 2012:
1. The musician in the middle was the "other accordion player" from last week.  We talked a bit, it turns out he's German and his name is Jan.  He has lived in Edinburgh for eight years, however, and played in a Brazilian.  His busking repertoire is mainly klezmer and tango, with the mario theme thrown in there.  Nice guy!

2.  Parents with a little son lingered for a couple songs, and after "I Believe (When I fall in love it will be forever)" mentioned that it was the song for their first dance at their wedding.  Nice!  Few people recognize it.  I told the man that, and he said that very few people knew it at their wedding too.  One knew it just from the ending credits of "High Fidelity."

3.  An older couple sat for a while, and I spoke to the man.  He asked about my studies, so I mentioned Psychology.  When he asked about my plans, I told him the truth: "Well Plan A is to write a best-selling memoir about my experiences as a traveling busker, sell the rights to a movie, then live off the royalties forever."  "That's not very ambitious!" he replied.  Not ambitious??  It turns out this man is a retired psychiatrist, a profession he passed onto his daughters.  Good thing he didn't quiz me on it!

4.  A guy recognized me from being in Kaiho!  He was at the Dark Dark Dark show we opened at, and apparently we talked there.  Nice to feel super famous.

5.  A toddler needed a diaper change, and the whole ordeal was pretty adorable.  She stood up, holding her pram for support, and just looked right at me while her mother did the dirty work.  She had the cutest blonde pigtails, and actually looked like I did at that age!

6.  In last Saturday's post I mentioned the guy with bright orange hair at the dog that comes every week.  Well, this week the dog was lying in the sun, and I got a quality belly-rub in.  That is all.

That's it for the market!  None of the regulars.  I even put up a new sign indicating that it is my final weeks in Edinburgh, hoping the regulars would come by to see it.  Oh well.    Then off to the mile!  Set up outside McGregor's.

7.  A really cool teenage boy walked by with his posse and yelled, "Play the bagpipes!"  Not the kind of heckle I'm used to!

8.  A man dropped what I presume was a Canadian coin in the box, and said, "Here's a souvenir from Canada, from Montreal!"  So I played "O Canada" and he totally got it.  Yeahhh.

9.  Some French teenage girls stopped and said they were playing a game.  I assumed it was the typical scavenger hunt, but instead they asked for a Scottish joke.  I thought for a minute and turned the classic accordion joke into a bagpipe joke (the one where the guy's windows are smashed and there's a second instrument).

10.  A man sat outside McGregor's and listened.  He invited me for a beer, so I joined him.  It turns out he's Swiss, from the German part (which I could guess since he sounded just like my busker friend Philip from the same region), and he's here for two weeks to study English.  He's a trumpet player back home, appealing to fans of traditional Swiss and German music.  Nice guy!

11.  There was only one hen party, and they were awesome.  The women were dressed in flapper outfits, and looked fantastic.  The kind of people I'd be friends with!  Nice change.  There was also one real bride I played for, but they noticed the song super late, and only the groom did.

12.  A woman stopped and asked if I play the banjo as well.  I said I didn't.  She said she'd seen my anyway, playing outside Starbucks where she works.  She asked if I need photos, explaining that she's just gone back to school for photography.  I wish I played the banjo!

13.  After "What is Love?" two guys stopped to ask me what it was.  After I identified it, one of them asked if I know any Rolling Stones.  Why yes I do!  It turns out "Paint it Black" is his favourite song ever, and it was a Paint it Black day.  They had randomly heard it on the radio earlier.  Nice.

That's all!  Quick post.  It was quite nippy and windy, so I quit a little early.  Then I sat around for a few hours with other buskers, mainly Edgar and JP.  Lewis joined us, as did Heather and a statue named Sara.  Lewis wrote the following in my notebook, regarding my two carrots that were lying out:

"Two carrots on a notepad/aye which wan is good and which bad/tha wantal tha left or the right/nay worry al eat them both tha night." Oh, he also generously gave me a £1 bill, signed by him, after I mentioned mine had been nicked.

Tomorrow is the parade for Scottish Olympians!  Cammie suggested I learn "We Are the Champions."  Should be fun.

Till then!