Friday, January 15, 2010

Our Busking Year: Week 2 - Coffee Songs

AllTheChordsThatFit
SoreFingerVille


________

Update:
Week 3 (Sun Jan 17th) is going to be crazy!.....Bigger E is on the road with a gang of maniacal Uke-wielding exchange students who are going to aurally assault the waves at French Beach on the Island (video of that to come, I'm sure)....So that means it will be just me and littler e. on the home front.....She and I will be hitting the far Western end of Spanish Banks (where the little dogpark beach is) at about 11:oo am this Sunday.....More on my travails trying to get a busking license that involves kids to come (apparently the City of Vancouver has a pretty strong aversion/paranoia about musical Fagans)....And to Mr. Beer, Sonja and the Hammer (what, no Hunke Bill?), we plan to hit the top of Little Mountain again next week....

Finally, for anybody that cares - the Lotuslandian Fog/Cloud lifted just long enough today to reveal the top of Cypress Mtn where a bunch of the Circus' Nordic events are to be held.... And guess what - There is essentially no (as in none/nada/zippo) snow up there - Ha!

___________




Young Derek would like to take my order (..."Hi!")...

He works at the coffee shop just up the street (..."Mornin'!")....
He's happy and annoying with a smirk the size of Texas...
He's my Coffee Enemy.....

Don't want to smell like an espresso....
With your coffee-scented soap...
...."Well, maybe you should have some Chai Tea"
......"Or maybe join me for some Tai Chi- C'mon!"
The Arrogant Worms - The Coffee Song


Well.

I didn't get the 'Street Entertainment License' in time for Week 2 (stupid work!).

So, instead of venturing far afield, we returned once again to the top of Little Mountain and pulled out our instruments beneath the Tai Chi Arbours.

It was just Bigger E., me, and the Whack-A-Doodle. Of course, the latter made friends wherever she went, orange hockey ball-in-mouth. This included little kid pictured below who spoke Spanish, which gave E. a chance to try out hers.

Her Spanish I mean.


Unfortunately, littler e. bailed on us again to go to the movies with other even littler kids and Mom (both thumbs 3/4 up!). So, once again, we were short our percussionist/videographer. But e. did promise to return next time, provided that she is not working on her video side-project that day which is titled, 'What's goin' on with Gina', and which is also actually considerably funnier, not to mention wittier, than pretty much everything on the Family Channel times a million (or 10).

We began our outing at Solly's on Main where the bagels are excellent, as are the Americanos. As for the regular coffee? Not so much. Here's the thing though - what are all the shops and stores and cafes along Main in the 20's and 30's going to do when their business disappears during the entirety of the Five-Ringed Circus because nobody will be allowed to park within miles and miles of the new Curling Rink (oops!..... sorry, slipped back into 'irate-speak' for a moment there).

In the end, we played for a long time - almost three hours. And more folks hung around for a bit this time, including a Little Rascals look-a-like named Sam whose Dad finally had to scoop him up and whisk him away because his Mom was waiting in the Conservatory.

****

Today's set-list was large, loose and unwieldy, with a slight dose of the The King.

And one of the funnest parts of the whole deal is that this time each of us took a bit of a break to just listen and chase the Whack-A-Doodle while the other let loose on their own - E. on JuNu's 'Into The Sunshine', and me on my fusion of Martha Wainright's Dirty BloodyMotherF'inA (mumbly version)/Astral Weeks (Hansard Pound version).

As promised last week, pictured below is E.'s most excellent new-fangled, electrifiable 4-stringed instrument.



________
O.Y.O.B.D. - Week Two:
Venue: Queen Elizabeth Park on top of the reservoir, stomping feet under the Arbours sans the Tai Chi.
Weather: Grey with bright sky off to the east; incredibly warm for mid-January.
Set List: Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton, EasyChair/HeyDay, California Stars, Lakes of Ponchetrain....In The Ghetto, This Year, The Weight, Blue Suede Shoes...... The Coffee Song....You And I, Send Me On My Way, Into The Sunshine, Hallelulah, BloodyMoFo/Astral Weeks...I Saw The Sign, Don't Stop Believin', Closer To Fine, Suspicious Minds...Folsom Prison Blues, Bobby McGee, Fallin' Slowly, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, I Bid You Goodnight.....Denton (Reprise, only louder)....
Working On: 'Winter Winds/Heart Told My Head' (Mumford & Sons) and, to, as E. put it, surprise our younger 'kids' in the audience, 'Time to Pretend' (MGMT).
Number of Not-So Good, Non-Evil Green Empire Coffees: Just one each; as I said, it was darn warm. And we only had one bagel each as well, although the Whack-A-Doodle had quite a few mini-treats when she had to be distracted from passing schnauzers, etc.
Faces We'd Like To See In The Passing Parade One Day: Well, in addition to the usual suspects on the sidebar (you know who you are!), how about Mr. Beer et al?


.





12 comments:

West End Bob said...

Quite the set list there, RossK!

In addition to The King's numbers, Bobby McGee and Knockin' on Heaven's Door - quite impressive.

Rosie looks like she was having as much fun as you and E. were. Hurry and get the license so The West End can be honoured with a performance, OK ? ? ? ?

RossK said...

E. can really belt the Joplin.

Hopefully by the time we get to the WestEnd we just might need a pip or two.

.

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

When are you going to be playing your things high atop the Littlest Mountain next? Sonja and I were just discussing how we need to set up a day out with the Hammer a little different than our usual mountain or city walk abouts. The Hammer loves little dogs. We like Little Mountain. Been bombed their several times before. Everybody knows what to do best before you go into the Conservatory - the Native American Church ought to take the bubble over.

paul said...

That is the best, most inappropriate spam I've seen in some time.

RossK said...

Paul--

Absolutely the best of the most inappropriate.

Bring on the worst of the worst.

Ha!

_____

Beer--

Probably weekend after next!...this weekend I will have no Bigger E. in tow so will probably retreat to some sort of weirdly hidden in forest venue - or maybe the Spanish Banks dogpark...Will always try to post up next venue Fri Night before the Sunday afternoon.

____

RossK said...

Spam mentioned by paul upthread now removed....'twas for a presumed phosphodiesterase inhibitor that would, if it actually worked, decrease the tone of the smooth muscle elements of the helicine arteries in the cavernosal tissue of the male external genitalia.....You get the picture.

(gotta get me one of those fancy-schmancy spam catchers like the one that the once and former King of the Gilliard comment threads, Driftglass used to have).

____
Hey, guess what--

The City of Vancouver won't sell you a Busker's license if they catch even a whiff of the involvement of kids - even 16 year old kids....Do they have a slightly out-of-all proportion Anti-Musical Fagan complex or what?

West End Bob said...

I'm guessing that means no West End performance?

Damn . . . .

RossK said...

Hey Bob -

We just may double up next weekend and hit the English Bay dog beach under the bridge behind the Aquatic Ctr....

What do you think?

RossK


(apparently we are allowed to sing in parks as long as it is not amplified, we don't ask for money and we don't draw a crowd...I think we can pretty much make that nut- but I'll be carrying the Parks By-law with me as suggested by a CityHall acquaintance - ha!)

.

.

West End Bob said...

Sounds good to me if it's on Saturday - that's my day off from a part-time gig.

You'd better carry the rules and regs to ward off any evil spirits . . . .

West End Bob said...

Oh, wait a minute: Jan. 23 is the "No Prorogue" protest - perhaps you and the e's should perform on or about the crowd gathering to express their anger at stevie and company . . . .

RossK said...

Bob--

How about Sunday morning the 24th....We could do a doubleheader as we've already promised Mr. Beer an afternoon gig up at Little Mountain (but that's OK because it's on the way home, and by then the Whack-A-Doodle will be exhausted)

.

West End Bob said...

Go for it, RossK. I never know 'til Friday what the next week's schedule is, but if I can you know I'll be there to 'preciate the tunes . . . .