I Spent a good part of Tuesday, reworking My "Sue" song, as well as discovering that I could take this once extremely dark photo, which I took at night, and increase the exposure and bring Sue's image to light.
I also made progress in the recording of the acoustic guitar, (dropped an octave to simulate a bass guitar), fleshed out the lyrics some, and learned more about equalizing sound.
The traffic noise is a necessary evil and will be until such a time that I get a good battery for the laptop and can go on location to quiet locations to record.
A high-pass filter was useful in removing what are called "sub-sonic" frequencies that usurp a lot of energy, yet contribute nothing to the listening experience, unless you are a snake; and even if you were, you might be fooled into thinking that a stampede of horses was approaching; or an earthquake was happening...
That being said; I have decided to go downtown on Thursday night this week, instead of waiting for Friday.
The hot dog cart guy mentioned that he worked that night, and, if he feels that he can sell hot dogs on Thursday nights, then I might certainly be able to get someone to throw me a few bucks for performing "My Friend, Sue."
Enter George
I met a guy in the convenience store last night.
He was an older black man, missing a couple of teeth, but wearing a gold chain.
He was staring into the cooler where there had once been 32 oz. cans of Milwaukee's Best Ice, which sold there for $1.50.
They are 5.9% alcohol, and I have done all of the math in order to determine that they were the best deal going in that particular store.
It crossed my mind that the guy might also be a mathematician, and I said something like: "You're looking for those Milwaukee's Best Ice cans that were such a great deal, aren't you?"
Well, after we both left the store after closing the second best deal, the man introduced himself and asked me where I was going to go to drink my beer. He was looking for a spot to do the same, without being subject to harassment by The Law.
He seemed like a nice enough guy; an older black man; old enough to be from a generation where the races had established some kind of common ground and got along together; common ground like huddling together in a foxhole while Viet Cong tried to kill you, perhaps
Well, to make a long story short:
George and I sat at the boarded up building, consuming 32 oz. Miller High life beers, and he told me that he had a lot of experience being homeless and went on to paint a verbal portrait of Houston, Texas as being" the place to end all places" for a homeless sort.
He talked about the food, the millionaire oil tycoons who walked around handing 100 dollar bills out to the homeless in the parks; the shelters that were like condominiums and the availability of resources to get one off the street.
He said that, upon first arriving there, a homeless sort could immediately get put up in a motel or a shelter and that there would be no need to sleep even one night on the street. There would be help in finding a job, for those that were really serious about improving their lot.
I, of course asked him if this situation hadn't led to the place being absolutely over-run by an influx of homeless people who would beg, steal or borrow just to get there so they could eat Styrofoam containers full of food of their choice; and walk into restaurants where the wealthy business people eat and merely mention that they were homeless and be able to dine on the very same food as the oil tycoons, free of charge. And to get a check for $240, as some kind of emergency assistance.
"Isn't the place crowded with homeless and the citizens and police ticked off and a massive effort underway to rid the city of them??" I asked.
"No, the homeless people understand the system," replied George. "...and unless you're being really stupid like laying down in the middle of the road, they won't bother you.." (He also spoke highly of Seattle, Washington, -guy's going out to sea for 6 months at a time; women begging you to move in with them -but I don't have room here to go into all that).
"This is all over the city, they do this; the homeless are spread out far and wide...there isn't one area that's crowded with them...If I wasn't with this woman that I'm with, up in Baker (near Scotlandville), I would be in Houston, myself!" added George.
Reportedly, Texas has very low unemployment right now. When the oil fields are gobbling up workers, the money spreads and everyone does well.
ReplyDeleteYou don't seem to be able to move much of anywhere under your own power, but if you're ever up to it, Texas would be that much closer to the West Coast.
George may end up a good traveling buddy if his situation ever changes.
ReplyDeleteWith me right now, everything's just kind of on hold. When I moved here I assumed I'd be here "forever" and I'd drunk the Survivalist kool-aid so I acquired a lot of shit. I was doing stuff like buying Army boots and stashing 'em away, all kinds of shit.
It all goes out (hopefully) this weekend in exchange for money, hopefully a nice fat wad of money.
But meanwhile, music? Fuhgeddaboudit. And, Gilroy's a neat little town, but Fuhgeddaboudit too. Too fucking hot in the summer, and it ices up in the winter. I'd suggest basing yourself in San Jose and then exploring out from there. That's what I plan to do. Work in electronic surplus and related technical things chases *me* down, but if I can make it as a busker it will be incredibly tempting to just do that. Maybe with some buying/selling on the side because the money's *so* good.
Can you get some CDs burned somehow? You have enough stuff recorded to burn one. The only track I like of yours is Dancing Days, but hey, others seem to like your music more than *I* do. CDs can double your income.
If I burned the music that I've recorded at the boarded up building (traffic noise; being hesitant to sing too loud and attract a drug fiend to see what all the noise and bright flashing waveforms are all about...) I would be burning more than CDs, I would be burning the poor soul who buys them from me *rolling on the ground, laughing * but, soo, and very soon I will have the Samsung with its 4 hour battery life and can record at the top of a mountain; just like John Denver in that hokie TV commercial where he is singing rocky mountain high on the top of a rocky mountain; if I want to...butI fear that or must warn that I want to do stuff that a smaller segment of people will like more; rather than stuff that "everybody" "loves" In other words; more songs about crazy girls and pidgeons; a niche market, if you will LOL!
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