The past two days have proven once again that Northampton is so awesome. Within ten seconds of parking my car it began: smiles, compliments on the costume, messages for Santa, etc., and didn't stop until I drove away hours later. People were into it, super friendly, and generous both with tips and with goodies to keep me warm and fed.
I'll keep this post short and cut right to the good stuff. My pen wasn't working well in the cold, so my notes are tricky. Hope I don't miss good ones! This is two days worth of material: (bold=my favorites)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Set up first outside Thornes, across from Cedar Chest. 5:30 pm.
1. The Occupiers were set up outside of Bank of America, as they are on Friday nights. Tonight, they were going to sing their versions of "Jingle Bells" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and asked me to accompany them, which I did for an audience of about zero. "You are crooks, you are crooks, we need a tax break...."
2. A guy knew he recognized the song I was playing, but bore a puzzled expression as to where he might have heard the song before. The song in question was "Angels We Have Heard on High."
3. I took my dinner break at Sam's Pizza, where I had my first acquaintance with the employee known as "Big Gay Bob." I can appreciate trying to make jokes, but this guy did not say a serious thing. (I got wine with my pizza). "How old are you?" "23." "Prove it." (After ringing me up,) "That will be...all of your money. Your pizza will be ready eventually." Pretty pessimistic there, Bob! Later I heard him take another customers order. He asked, "And are you drinking heavily?"
From 6:30-9 or so I set up at my favorite spot, outside Faces. Good because it's by the crosswalk, so good foot traffic, centrally located, and Faces projects green dots on the sidewalk that people stop to figure out and thus have to listen to me.
4. As I was walking back from Sam's, these two young folks asked me if I knew where to score some weed. In this town, the "ask a stranger on the street" technique sometimes works, but did they really think the Christmas Elf of all people was their best bet?? When they walked by later they caught my eye and shook their heads, indicating that they hadn't yet found any. That was helpful, since I was on the edge of my seat.
5. A member of one of the many packs of teenage girls walking by loudly said, "Hello my gypsy friend!" I guess my elf costume can't mask my true identity!
6. A gender-ambiguous wheelchair-bound fez-wearer called me a "hot elf." Only in Northampton.
7. Some folks asked me to play "L'Valse d'Amelie" (too many apostrophes?). I usually play other songs from that soundtrack other than the main theme, but I did it and warned them that it gets really tricky and complicated. They said, "It's okay, we have a friend who teaches accordion in North Adams and he has trouble with that part too."
8. There's a note where the pen only starting working for "nicest ever," but I forget who that is :(
9. This incredibly grumpy, sour looking woman stormed by with a very corny snowman pin. I thought that was a funny combination of expression and accessory.
10. This guy went on and on about how I HAVE to go play in Glastonbury, England. Maybe I'll check it out.
11. I saw my childhood next-door neighbors Jeff and Amy which was nice. I saw them in Ptown last summer too! I also saw a good friend from high school, Christine. Great!
12. A young man said he wanted to hear a non-Christmas song, since he's sick of Christmas music since his bagpipe band is playing a lot of it (a normal comment in the Valley). I showed him my set list and he confessed his Beirut fandom. Yay!
13. Lots of people asked about bringing them presents as such, and I asked what they wanted. One guy finally agreed that what he wanted most of all was an accordion!
14. I got a lot of tips just for my costume, or parts (wreath earrings, shoes, even "candy legs").
15. When I played in November I mentioned a Colombian man I met and talked to about tangos. He was out Friday night and danced to my songs!
16. As I mentioned, people are baffled by these moving green lights on the sidewalk in front of Faces. They come from a little projector hidden above the neon Faces sign. If, after a minute of looking, they can't figure out where they come from, I'd pipe up and tell them. But I got cynical after a while, and after asking "Do you want to know the secret?" I'd confess that it's pure Christmas magic.
17. Someone said something like, "It's not what's being played, who's playing it." That's not the right wording, but regarding that it doesn't matter how well I play. It was nice to hear, since I don't actually play well.
18. I met a photographer who recently had a photo in the Advocate of the Coyote Choir, a fellow busking band. ("That was my photo! I'M Doug!") He would've gotten one of me too but didn't have his equipment. How am I going to get famous then, Doug?
19. An adorable little boy lingered for a while with his dad. He wore a frog hat that extended way past his head, and a Red Sox jacket. When he put money in, he giggled the cutest little giggle ever. Too bad Flaca's on vacation!
20. "We expect great things since you look so cute."
21. "That box is going to be full and God's going go bless you for playing his songs out here." Oh, he's a composer too?
22. Lastly, a group of women came out of Faces with a tiara and placed it on one of their member's head. I mouthed to another to ask if it was her birthday, and I got a nod. I played "Happy Birthday," and they loved it. I love doing that! Then they went to the ATM but couldn't tip till they got change. I offered to make change but they said they'd be back. They weren't before 9:00 though. No pasa nada.
And.....Saturday, December 17th, 2011
I started out once again by Thornes, around 1:00 pm, since Steve the guitar player was outside Faces.
1. There was this horribly obnoxious juggler. He obviously is used to working big tourist crowds, and paid no regard to the busking bylaws. he wore an orange vest and a top hat and walked around with three balls. He stopped right outside of Thornes, obviously not 50 feet away from me. He'd get one ball stuck on his hat and ask children where the red ball was. They'd giggle and say "On your head!" I was so mad. I didn't want to leave my stuff to go give him a piece of my mind, so luckily he came over to me. I thought he might ask if it was okay that he was there, but no. He came over and asked me, in a silly voice, "Have you seen my red ball?" Ohhh the nerve of that man. Not only do you invade my pitch and steal my children, but now you're acting like I'm one of them? I nicely told him, "Sir, I'm going to ask you to please move down so we're fifty feet apart. As you can see, I'm more than fifty feet away from that musician over there." He did a minimal job of acknowledging it, and eventually went on his way. This messed me up though, because during the anticipation, execution, and aftermath of a confrontation such as this I always get a huge adrenaline rush. It's annoying, because it's substantial enough that I'm shaky and lightheaded for a long time after. It made it hard to focus, smile, and play well. Later, when a cop checked permits I totally tattled on him. Hopefully he's in the Big House now thinking about what he's done.
2. A stressed mother stopped by with her crying toddler, hoping that I would stop the crying. I switched to Jingle Bells, and it actually worked!
3. There were two little girls around (offspring of Salvation Army bell-ringers?) who had beautiful colorful tutus on. They would come close and listen, but then run back when I tried to talk to them. The older one finally told me about this long, complicated video she had seen with a talking snowball and an elf. It was all she could do to get the ending out, since she was in hysterics. I have no idea what went on in that video.
4. A guy said, "You look cute," and his girlfriend immediately whipped her head around to glare. Oops.
5. A man saw my loans sign and asked if I went to Smith. This line of thinking was the "Sophie" sign, because of the legacy of Sophia Smith. That's a new one!
6. I got some strange costume identifications. Some thought I was a leprechaun, and someone that I was a character from "Alice in Wonderland." Guys, it's Christmas!
I took a long break from around 2-3:30 to do my own shopping. I wanted to leave my accordion somewhere so I could move more swiftly and have hands, so I headed to the Northampton Pottery studio where my old friend Frank crafts (no, he's not related, yuk yuk). I had just missed him, but the other artists extended the invitation to accordion-sit. Thank you!! This break ended at Bueno y Sano, for a lunch/dinner stop.
7. A woman in Bueno told her daughter, "Your quesadilla pizza will be ready soon!" I took this to mean that this child would only eat pizza, so everything was called pizza in that household. Oy.
8. At 3:30 I took over Steve's spot, where I stayed until about 8:30. Steve's so awesome, he told me about all the places he's traveled. Maybe I'll winter in Savannah! It was his 65th birthday yesterday. He suggested that I find some cardboard to stand on, since it works wonders for keeping your feet warm! Awesome, I'll have to try it.
9. For the first time ever in my 18 months of busking, I was asked for my permit. A Northampton cop walked down Main St. and stopped in front of this young guitar player. I saw him pack up his stuff and wondered if there's a bylaw restricting busking on this day. 'Twas not the case, that guy simply "hadn't renewed" his yearly permit, which means he's gotten away with it for 11.5 months! I proudly showed the cop mine when it was my turn, and he was super nice. He said that if anyone's giving me a hard time I should flag him down. I totally tattled on the obnoxious juggler, which will come back to bite me in the ass karmically if I try playing Harvard Square without a permit again.
10. A lot happened at once, suddenly: the guitar player came to talk to me which I was glad about, since I hadn't talked to him before. Then I switched my attention to a lady who asked to hear a French song, so I played her "Parlez-moi d'Amour" (quick note: I'm so sick of Christmas songs and I'm so happy when people request others!). Right on her heels was a family I totally love who I babysit for. I hadn't seen them in a long long time, so it was so nice to see them. The dad mentioned my green hair which I thought was a joke until his wife said he's color-blind. Oops.
11. "Only in Northampton do you see a teenager dressed up like a what's-it-called!" D'oh.
12. A guy was really enthralled by my two-dollar bills (I have six now), and asked if he could swap for one. I agreed, since he had never seen one. But then he thought out loud to me about how much time he should leave to get to Westfield to see his niece's band performance. Can't help you with that one, buddy.
13. A lady said, "I don't have money, but would you like a clementine?" I said I would. "Would you like...two?" She magically pulled a second out of her small-looking pocket. Awesome.
14. I saw lots of old friends! Kristen, Ginny and David, BZ. Love running into loved ones (duh).
15. A guy asked to play a Yann Tiersen song, then said all the Amelie songs are based on the melody of one Christmas song, or something. That didn't make sense. But I also can't hear shit in my elf hat.
I was so so so cold. I had to be careful smiling, since my teeth were freezing. I wore the minimum leg layers, since it's been okay, but that was a bad idea. I also forgot one thermal shirt, but I thought I made up for it in sweaters. I was about twice my normal bulk due to all my layers. But, more importantly, my poor accordion was cold! I could hear it suffering, so I took it inside for a hot chocolate (although I decided it was safer if I drank it myself rather than pouring it onto Lil' Red). It felt so good to go into warm Thornes. I wasn't in any danger of losing my spot since only two buskers were up for playing in the cold and one had gotten the boot for his lack of permit! I had my choice of pitches. It was 6:00ish after my break, so I still had three hours to go. Ugh. I noticed that there had been a clock above the bank the whole time, which was nice to track the passing of time (yep, that's what clocks are good for).
16. I had talked to these two super nice young women who were also paying back student loans. They were on their way to Woodstar Cafe, and came back around 6:30 with a large coffee for me. That's not all...they had folded a paper into a tray so they could bring me an assortment of sugars, a stirrer, and a little cup of milk. So nice. If you two ever happen across this, thank you so much!! That was one of my nicest things ever done. Unfortunately, though, I'm caffeine-free these days, so I couldn't consume it. ...
17. ... I asked several people if they wanted it before a young man finally accepted it. Poor guy was having a hard time. He told me he's trying to find money to fill his prescriptions and get to the Amherst shelter. I offered him the clementines but he has acid reflux. He kept saying that he's looking for money, which was an obvious hint, but I resisted giving him some because I can't help out everyone! I decided a little too late though to give him a few bucks, and he was elsewhere.
18. On a happier note...a guy asked if I ever teach, because his wife wants to take lessons. I said I would, but I'm not around the Valley much. He asked if I know anyone. Thinking of Jazer Giles I said, "Well I know a guy who's an experienced piano teacher and he plays the accordion, so although I don't know for sure, there's a very good chance he teaches accordion too." The guy said, "Oh no, that wouldn't work at all!!! Thanks anyway!" Weird.
19. More sad encounters...a drunk (or just really weird) older guy up way too close and asked, "Are you an angel?" Nope. "A pumpkin?" Colder. "I'm an elf." "Me too, I'm an angel. Let's go do the same thing." "Well an angel's a totally different ball game!" This conversation continued for a bit. Finally, I got him to leave, and he said, "If anyone gives you a hard time send them to Little Jimmy" or something.
20. Soon after Little Jimmy was Raymond, an equally drunk but much less creepy older guy. His whole mantra was things being "dead in three minutes." Caffeine came up, since I offered him the coffee (these are out of order, sorry). "Oh no, I'm on medication for high blood pressure so if I have caffeine I'll be dead in three minutes!" He was worried about me out here, not convinced by my strategies of being safe. It was a genuine concern, not like the men who have brought it up insinuating that they should be the ones protecting me. He feared that if I went alone to the South to play that I'd be dead in three minutes. And when the New York Police decide they don't like a busker, that busker will be dead in three minutes. Three times through this conversation he extended his hand and said, "I'm Raymond." He told me to not stay out too late and to watch out for the drunks. "I'm one of them!'
21. Speaking of which...some young folks said, "I hope you're not a recovering alcoholic" as they put a bottle of beer in the box. Yessss. I thought about setting it up with a straw for easy concealed consumption, but it didn't fit, so I downed some tea then transferred the beer into the tea cup. Cools the body, but warms the soul.
22. I saw Becky, who brought me tea and warmed my pen! Yay!
23. Oh, this was way earlier, but a men's a cappella group, "The Dreamboats," was caroling and asked to use my spot for a few numbers.
24. Some parents with a cute baby stopped. They were great, and implied that they have lots of musical instruments at home--awesome. Got to start them young. They listened for a while, then came back with a big bill! So nice.
They were followed by another big bill, so I decided to pack up early (8:30ish rather than 9:00).
Oh, I discovered a great technique for tremolo: simply hold your instrument and shiver! Sounded great!
These two days were just so joyful. I enjoyed being an elf, no one thought I was totally nuts, and the Christmas spirit was tangible in the air. Plus, I made approximately One Buttload of money. My presents are paid for! I'm taking today off so I don't get pneumonia, but I'll do another day or two at the end of the week.
Happy holidays!
P.S. Edit: I forgot that I briefly overlapped with the Salvation Army bell-ringer outside of Faces who totally rang his bell in rhythm! He did a wonderful job on "The First Noel." Loved it.
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