Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Life After Jazzfest

Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Snoop Dog; even some jazz, featured at Jazzfest 2016

Yes, as I save for a new laptop, I am frantically coming up with ideas while busking and have composed some stuff that should be ready to go, as soon as I get a new laptop.

There will then be another gap in time while I figure out how to get the data off the huge paperweight and onto the new machine. How much do those bozos charge at Best Buy to perform that service; of undoing screwdrivers, popping a ribbon cable off of the hard drive and removing it to place in a functioning machine, and then just copying the data.
They may have to use some licenced software application to do it, but...20 minutes of work, tops?

So there might be a time when I have a new machine and can painstakingly try to rebuild my studio on it and then forge ahead with recordings, while the old stuff sits on the paperweight laptop until such a time that I can afford the certified technician's services.

Other than that, I had an 11 dollar outing Sunday night the last night of Jazzfest (on 2 hours of playing) followed by about an 8 dollar Monday (on 2 hours of playing).

The jar for the "new laptop fund" had reached almost 160 bucks, after a Saturday night, when I had gone to the Lilly Pad at around 8:45 PM, to find that there was no accordion player there, nor a girlfriend holding a sign by his side.

Friday night, I had managed to make decent money, but not after having started at around the same time only to have the accordion guy set up 20 feet from me and basically begin to play over me.

This changed the dynamic of the situation to where I approached him and just matter of factly said: "You know, you're just setting up on top of me now..."
"You said something about sharing the spot, well you had it last night, and now it's my turn..."
I had meant that he could play there from late afternoon until I showed up shortly after dark. That would give him up to 6 hours to skeeze, and he would be skeezing in daylight, where the girlfriends "just some cute travelling kids" thing would play much better; the guy might not even have to play very simple accordion music at all. In the darkness, he would be more prone to do that, making the instrument like a foghorn in a sense, to identify themselves as musicians before all of the tourists have crossed over to the other side of the street at the sight of them.

I went into Lafitt's Blacksmith Shop Tavern.
I was hoping to encounter one of the bouncers or someone else who might walk past me every night after they get off work, to whom I was going to mention that another musician had come and set up on top of me, who might have said: "I'll just go and tell them that they're blocking our exit, and run them off,"
Then, I wound up setting up again, but further down from him.
Lilly soon arrived, after I had made a quick 5 dollars or so, and basically made me move back to my original spot.
I walked over there and stood next to Lilly and her older daughter at the gate, while Lilly seemed to ponder what to do.
She stood there with a hand on her chin.
Alongside her was Chantilly, who is about the age of the girlfriend of the accordion player, whom Lilly had told had nice hair the night before. That night, they had left shortly after that.
I think the sight of Chantilly made the girlfriend appreciate the hair comment more; as evidence that Lilly knows nice hair when she sees it; and I think the sight of Lilly, not approaching to say anything to them (as if talking had been fruitless, and now she was pondering worse) got through to them also, as, they were soon gone; and I went on to prosper with a 65 dollar night on 4 and a half hours playing.

But the money for the laptop is cresting and ebbing; and I ponder going out now, on this Tuesday night after Jazzfest has ended; after having had a 7 dollar and 65 cent Monday after Jazzfest.

Now Wednesday

It is now Wednesday, and in less than 5 hours my food card will be charged with 194 bucks...
The past 10 days have flown by. It seems like yesterday when I was thinking about the problem of surviving 10 days without food card money.
The busking proceeds have been just enough to feed myself and my cat and to tend to things like houseplants, house cleaning and replenishing household items such as a paring knife and bold writing pens.
I'm trying to not be in a rush to get the laptop replaced, to avoid leaving myself high and dry in other areas. I saw a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle in Wal-Mart for $14....2,000 pieces; enough to keep me occupied and not missing a laptop for at least a couple of weeks.

The next big thing will arrive here, after this post Jazzfest lull.

The first-of-the-month-ers got their checks on the 29th of April (since the 1st fell on a Sunday).
So, as I sit here on the 4th of the month it has technically been 6 days that they have had their monthly checks, and invariable; some of them are out of money already. These are the ones who tore through it, living excessively (if staying up for 96 hours high on crack fits that definition) and who are now not even able to sustain themselves off of the tourists. I think that the business element, arranges it so that they can take some kind of small vacation after a thing such as the Jazzfest, which probably had them working 15 hour days each weekend.
The few tourists that you see tend to be cut from a more frugal cloth; having taken advantage of some "off-peak" rates. Why would they want to negate their savings by throwing the money back at 12 dollar drinks and tipping street performers? Those are the ones that you see holding a McDonalds coffee cup and walking the length of Bourbon Street "just looking" at everything...
This makes for a volatile situation, and extra caution must be taken to look out for those whose crack has just run out after a 6 day binge, and who aren't blessed with the economy of a Jazzfest in order to sustain them....

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