"I Don't Know Where to Hide from the Scary Monsters"

Saturday morning! I was a little worse for wear because I had stayed up late the previous night chillin' with a famous band that I very much admire. Yeah. So awesome. Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three, from St. Louis, are on tour in Europe now. I saw them Friday night, and finagled my way to bars with them afterwards. Obviously I couldn't go to bed early. Saturday is my big work day, so I knew I'd be suffering a bit without a full night's sleep!

I managed to get to the Farmer's Market by like 11:30. Today was a special today because I was being filmed by Martin, a budding documentary filmmaker who's making a short on the busking life. It wasn't a great day to film since I was obviously going to suck, and I looked like hell. As it was, it was okay! For some inexplicable reason, I played really well! Way better than last weekend, when I had practiced a lot and had slept. Go figure. It was tricky, though, because there were two other acts performing. In the middle was an entire orchestra of OAPs, a phrase I've picked up here that stands for "Old Aged Persons." On the castle end was a duo: man on guitar, woman on violin, both singing. Potential to be good, but when I went by they were covering Mumford & Sons, but with WRONG harmonies. Come on. Poor choices all around. (It's okay if I cover Mumford & Sons, though.) Luckily my normal end was free though, about which Kat had a lot to say (you remember her, right? Super friendly Big Issue vendor with an incomprehensible accent).

It was strangely misty (well not actually strange for here), and the castle was even hard to see! Oh, I learned the word "haar:" "In meteorology, haar is a coastal fog along certain lands bordering the North Sea; the term is primarily but not only, applied in eastern Scotland" (Wikipedia). Here's what happened:

Saturday, 24 March 2012, Part I, Farmer's Market:
1. The orchestra dissipated, and one musician stopped to chat. He mentioned that his wife plays accordion, and she has a blue 120-bass lying around that they'd let go for like £100! Tempting, but I'm really not in the market for one that big, especially that I'd have to transport back home. Thought about it. He also told me about a Klezmer Ceilidh/jam on Sunday afternoon. And he took a babysitting flyer for his daughter!

2. I've waited too long and the note "Kid bike helmet" no longer means anything. Damn.

3. A guy was sitting on a bench, and got super pumped for the not-ready, butchered version of the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. Yesss. I ran a nerd test on him: he in fact didn't acknowledge Taio Cruz, but also didn't react to the Tetris theme. Only partial nerd, then.

4. Nice kids! Clara came by first. She's this adorable little four-year-old with a perfect Madeline haircut. She's been in the blog before as the kid who preferred "Ring of Fire" to any kid's song. Today, she told me that she had a paper accordion at home that she had made. She was getting ready for her first ever ballet recital that evening. She said that she had come over while her dad got burgers. Mmm. Their other friends came over soon after. First I will mention the incredible outfit on the older girl: t-shirt with polka-dots, blouse with donkeys, jumper with rainbow stripes, all atop checkered pants. Way to pull it off. The other little girl was such a tiny little human being, but she had such a big personality and voice! Right off the bat, she confided, "I don't know where to hide from the scary monsters." Oh no!! She made Flaca dance, but kept her on her knees, which made for an interesting dance. Such cuties!

5. There was another family with a little toddler. I've been trying to test which kids' songs kids recognize over here, so I tried "Old MacDonald." Sure enough, I saw the mom singing along to the kid. They came over after, and it turns out they're American! Switched to "Wheels on the Bus" next, but the kid didn't do the matching arm movements.

6. Someone finally recognized "So Long, Marianne!" A lady listened, then said it was one of her favorite songs. Correct. I'm surprised this one took that long.

7. Some kids sauntered by with red popsicles. I was about to invite them to use Flaca, but then realized that her white piano skirt would not fare with with sticky red popsicle hands.

8. A kid and zir dad came by, and the kid started dancing, and proclaiming, "Dahncing!" I have no idea if it was a boy or girl. Pretty cute! More interested in zir own dancing than Flaca's. The dad noticed our matching dresses!

Generally speaking, it was pretty slow at the market. Eight is very few bullet points for a market Saturday, and the comments and tips were generally slow. Maybe it was the weather (although it was balmy despite the haar), or maybe everyone just had enough produce already. Hmm.

It was warm enough that I didn't have to go inside for my break! Just found a nice thing to sit on and ate my weird pink leftovers (delicious beet risotto!). Lots of people watched, actually. Painted box, piano dress, weird pink leftovers. I guess it's a sight.

Saturday, 24 March Part II, Royal Mile:
I walked down the Royal Mile and was surprised by the lack of buskers! There was no piper, no Dieter, no Charlie Chaplin, no circle pitch. Weird. I set up on the South side of the street which I normally don't do in front of the church next to St. Giles cathedral. Dieter's usual spot. Strangely deserted, although there were still people milling about. I wondered if I had missed a memo or something. I didn't stay super long here, but got a few notes:

1. "Grenade" was successful! Someone sang along, and one guy ran back to tip me just for Bruno Mars.

2. Italian man stopped and asked what the instrument was called in English. I learned that in Italian it's a "fisarmonica."

3. American (?) family stopped, had a kid, played with Flaca. They took a picture, and asked if they could put this paper in it. It must be a Flat Stanley! As it was, it was a cat. Same idea though, the dad said. Cool!

4. One guy showed his appreciation of my act by sticking his tongue out. In like a way that's supposed to be like winking or something. That's new!

5. A man stopped and tipped, saying that it's good that I'm getting an education. He asked me to play Elvis' "Wooden Heart." No could do, sorry.

6. During "Danny Boy," a man laughed. What?? Like, held his head and laughed, I guess at the idea of my playing it? It was a super passionate, sad performance of it!

7. I talked to Tom, one of the circle pitch buskers. I had met him my first day busking in Edinburgh, but we hadn't talked since. I asked why it was so deserted, and he attributed it to the weather. Also said there was a weird energy and folks weren't tipping. He said that Charlie Chaplin had quit early to see a play on Princes St. with his girlfriend. What a totally normal thing to do!

8. Oh, I was using my new straps! Unfortunately, I became aware of something rubbing. It turned out to be the strap that has that little thing that's supposed to keep it tucked in, like on a belt or watch. The little ring thing was stuck too far up, so one end was loose and was rubbing the bellows the wrong way. I tried a few solutions to get it out of the way, finally borrowing the rubber band from the Let's Go book and looping it behind and tying it. I reckon it's going to work nicely!

9. Lastly, things took a turn for the magical when the haar rolled in thick, and it got cold! I wondered how my reeds would fare. A piper started up again, playing Scotland the Brave naturally, through the fog. I tried to play along, but it was in a weird key.

Went home, then Ceilidh danced the night away! Ow! The end.