"Those are Elf Shoes"

Well, the season has begun!  That is, the season of living in an elf costume.  This marks my third December of holiday busking on the streets of Northampton, MA, and Flaca's first. I spent last week making Flaca a matching elf costume out of scraps of leftover material (everything but the stockings), and doing some repairs on the accordion and the box. I planned to play in Amherst at the lighting of the Merry Maple, but it was cold, I had worked all day already substitute teaching, and I wasn't sure if I'd be allowed to set up Amherst, and where I would do so. I stayed home Saturday as well because it was snowing all day, and although that makes for a nice ambiance, accordions don't like getting wet.  So today, Sunday, I located all the pieces of my own costume and drove into town.

Today was also the day of the Hot Chocolate Run, a yearly event in Northampton.  The newspaper said that it generates the second-most foot traffic in Northampton, after First Night.  I was looking forward to that, but by the time I arrived at noon it had already wound down.  There were still some people out, though, and the usual holiday shoppers.  There wasn't a single other performer out that I could see, so I decided to go for the gold and set up right outside Thornes.  I went a little to the side, though, in front of Ted's Boot Shop.  Soon into my set Ted came out and asked if I would move over a little since my audience was standing in the doorway to his shop which he didn't like.  A nice lady helped me move, and Ted even gave me a tip!  And later he walked by again and said, "You gotta sing too!"  Now that's not very grumpy.

I played at this spot for about three hours, playing mostly non-Christmas songs.  The past two years I played pretty Christmas songs, and the act was quite corny.  I decided to pump the breaks on the full Christmas corniness this year, thinking that the costumes were enough.  Also, I can't find the notecards that have the chords to relevant songs written on them.  Something I began to do last year and want to bring back, however, is doing Klezmer/minor-key versions of Christmas songs.  Last year I worked on Jingle Bells, [J] Oy to the World, and Deck the Halls, and I was able to limp through them today.  I hadn't practiced with Flaca, though, so I had to try to incorporate her in on the spot.  My first few attempts were quite bad, as was my improvised normal Jingle Bells for one little girl, so some passersby surely thought I was awful.  My other idea for this year is to appeal to the curmudgeons by playing such songs as "The Final Countdown," "Paint it Black," and "Stayin' Alive."  Furthermore, I want to put these into medleys with Christmas songs: "The Twelve Days of Christmas" into "The Final Countdown," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" into Paint it Black (because both in Gm, thank you Kush!), etc.  I'll save these for when I have crowds, though, since it's good for people to stay long enough to get both songs and see what I did there.  Otherwise I'm just playing my normal Flaca songs, since they're the ones with which I do her best: Funiculi Funicula, Tico Tico, La Donna é Mobile, etc.  I might try to dust off more pretty ones/singalongs, but for now I'd rather do non-seasonal songs well and let the costumes do the Christmas-ing.

All in all, it was a great first day out, and I'm totally pumped for this season.  Maybe I'll even go back into Boston on weekdays!  Anyway...

Prologue: Busking in America
In addition to being the first Elf busking in a year, today marked my first American busking since last New Year's Eve.  It's sort of cool how weird it was:

i. Earning paper money.  I got used to earning only coins in Europe, which are great when the wind is blowing!  Additionally, it's really cool when, depending on the temperature/location of the sun, you pick them up and they're hot or cold to the touch.  It is also a great feeling walking home with a heavy bag, knowing it was a lucrative day--a phenomenon dollar bills don't provide.  Conversely, it's much easier to grab a wad of bills and tuck them away mid-set than it is to do so with coins.  So that's good.  The main downside of earning US Dollars is that I can't convert my take into US Dollars and get a higher number!

ii.  Everyone speaking English/having American accents.  For my six weeks on the road I was accustomed to most people talking to me in a language other than English, and having to tell them "Ich spreche kein Deutsch" or "Ne mluvím česky" or whatever.  I would quickly rack my brain trying to remember what country I was in so I could say "thank you" in the accurate language, and usually mess it up.  Today, I got to show my appreciation verbally without thinking about it, and I could sound as American as I wanted.  It was nice having long conversations again!

iii.  Seeing people I knew!  Although I got used to seeing "regulars" in Edinburgh, it has been a while since I've run into someone I know whom I did not expect to see while busking.  I was happy to see one good friend, a grade-school classmate, a neighbour, the mother of another friend, and a cousin (although that was planned).  It's a nice way to catch up with people!

Now, onto the good stuff...

Sunday, 2 December 2012
1.  As I was setting up, a woman stopped and said something like, "Oh good, a puppet of color!"  This was interesting, since I hadn't given too much thought to Flaca's race.  I thought it was more obvious when she wore her original traditional Mexican garments,  but now I just think of her as just some little girl.  It wasn't until one of my Spanish roommates in Edinburgh asked if she was Whoopie Goldberg that I realized people would notice her hue.  One fellow busker even suggested that people would find it questionable that I, the Caucasian "boss" had a dark-skinned person under my control.  Luckily no punters have said anything of the sort, so I hope I haven't offended anyone.  If anything, Flaca's the star and she bosses me around!  The only "issue" there is with her skin tone, as far as I see it, is that it's hard to see her face while busking after dark.  For that reason only I was considering giving my next puppet lighter skin.  But if her multi-nationality actually makes people happy, like the woman today, then By George my next puppet will be racially ambiguous as well!

2. I talked a few times to an older woman who stopped by.   "Are you the elf?" she asked.  I said I was.  She took it all in, and declared, "Those are elf shoes."  And she walked away.  The second time she asked if I was Santa's helper.  I said yes, and asked what she wanted for Christmas.  "Santa always brings me nice things," she said with a smile.  Hope that holds up this year!

3. I'll shamelessly say that I got a lot of compliments on the whole setup: my costume, Flaca's costume, and the rig in general.  People in the Valley are artsy, so crafting and sewing and such is well-received.  Made me very happy.  One girl even said something that suggested she doesn't like street performers, but she liked me.  I was called "Very original" on a few occasions.  This was great, since that's what I'm after by using the puppet!  About five minutes into my set, one woman stopped and showered me with compliments.  She ended with, "Your dedication and stamina is inspirational."  How does she know?  Could she tell I was going to stay out for a long time?  Maybe she thought I was someone else who had been out earlier!  Either way, it's nice to feel inspirational :)

4. As I was setting up, a man stopped by and asked me for directions to Broadside Books, which I provided (another nice thing about being home).  Later, he walked by, caught my eye, and said, "Found it!"  I just thought that was endearing.  Phew!

5.  There was one guy hanging out that was a bit sad.  Seemed down on his luck.  He was so friendly, though, and seemed to see me as a comrade since I make money on the streets (I felt bad that I had to ignore some of his questions and chatter mid-song).  He claimed that "Funiculi Funicula" made him feel sad, and asked if I know any Beatles.  We agreed that I would play "Ob La Di," which he said makes him feel better.  Glad to be of assistance!  Also, when I was playing the Godfather theme, he exclaimed, "'House of the Rising Sun,' right on!"  Oops.  I'm sure I'll be seeing more of him.

6.  I talked to another man whose mother is off to Dublin where she will busk!  I told him to warn her that the restrictions in Dublin are many, but he said she's been going on and off for years so she knows the drill.

7.  Yet another man hung for a while, and he dropped in a peppermint candy and a packet of foot-warmers!  He remembered me from past years, and asked if I was going back to California.  Coool.

8.  A middle-aged couple tipped, and said, "We especially liked 'Speak to Me of Love.'  It's one of our favourites!"  Ah, yes....I figured this was another "House of the Rising Sun."  Then I remembered that "Parlez-moi d'Amour" is in fact "Speak to me of Love."  Right, "Yes, it's one of my favorites too!" I yelled after them, minutes later.

9.  Some teen boys walked by a few times, and one of them dropped a few coins each time, sending his friends into greater fits of laughter each time.  It was nice though, even teens in the Valley are cool.

10.  "Stayin' Alive" was recognized for its second time, by a mother with a baby!  Glad she liked it, and maybe saw the Christmas relevance in it?

11. New "unhelpful patron" award goes to the lady who recognized her friends and stopped them right in front of me to chat, obscuring me from view for a while, didn't notice, then drove her baby's stroller right into the box.  Thaaanksss.

12.  Someone pointed out that I look like Mrs. Claus, but I just need some red!  Eek, my fears about aging are confirmed!

13.  I decided to try to use my student loan sign, since it goes over well in Hamp.  One guy saw me trying to stand it up and fetched me some tape from Thornes.  Awesome.  People did comment, appropriately laughing when I told them I studied Psychology.  One asked if I graduated, saying that at least I had that.  True.

14.  A nice couple stopped for a while and we discussed my act.  They wanted to hear a song, so I gave them the option of "pretty holiday," "minor-key holiday," or "non-holiday."  The man said to surprise him, and the woman said that, knowing her husband, all that matters is passion.  So I should play something I know well.  So I did the "God Rest.../Paint it Black" medley.  It went over pretty well!  And nice and passionate, I hope.

15.  Some Carolers set up across the street, including a couple people that had already been by and talked.  I was worried when I read in the paper about scheduled holiday a cappella groups performing on the street, since they would trump buskers.  This group was okay, though, but it would have been bad if I had been across the street, where I often set up last year.  Eek!  The thing in the paper promoting the groups gushed that they would "bring music to the streets," which hit a nerve for me.  What do you call the thing the street musicians bring to the streets?  I'm tempted to write a letter to the editor reminding readers of the impact these groups have on the buskers who count on holiday shopping income, but I don't want to sound totally douchey since the singers collect for charity. 

I packed up because I was hungry, and it was time to jingle up the hill to Smith college to hear my cousin sing in the choir.  I was glad to see other buskers on my way: this other guitar player I saw a lot last year as well as Jesse the harp player who I knew first from Provincetown.  Next time I'll stop and chat!

Despite my surges of "reverse culture shock," the first Elf busk of the year reminded me that I am, in fact, glad to be home.  Let's hope for good weather next weekend to continue the festivities!