This is the Darlington, you can see the two transistors and some surface jumpers. Late y’day I got a call saying the band I wanted to see was appearing tonight instead of Friday. That means I didn’t see them. Not only did that change make bingo the big event of the day, but Eddie had asked last week to bring in his guitar and jam after hours. And indeed, he jammed as I did, to a mainly empty house. Even though there were no tourists this year, there is still a tourist season. When it is over, hello hot, dry summer.
Not only was my tip jar empty, half-way through the show, my equipment stand fell over. Splat on the floor went my notebook computer and DVD player. As a credit to the fine and rugged gear I buy, both worked afterward. Like all single acts, the audience appeal wears off and the regulars begin to take you for granted meaning no tips. But at least my time there is measured in years, not weeks. No names mentioned. I will say the temptation to stay home is getting harder to resist.For instance, I bought a $3 movie at Big Lots, “Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emporer”. A knock-off of the other mummy movies, it repeats all the special effects but is still a dazzling extravaganza. The producers have employed much better makeup people and the marching stone soldiers don’t all look alike. It was worth the three bucks. I have never yet seen a Blue-Ray movie but I hear they are something else.
Speaking of staying home, I talked to a most beautiful woman today. I knew she was not from around here the moment I saw her in the poultry section. We wound up rummaging the bargain counter and talking, but it was just talk, you know I have no mechanism to hit on women in such situations. She is Russian. It didn’t all go my way, as she expressed disdain for the fact I shop, cook, and am planning on taking that sewing course. “You don’t want a woman who does that kind of things.”
I don’t? I thought I did, pardon me. If you can’t get a youthful one, at least get a useful one. I don’t usually follow up unless I get an immediate, positive, exclusive response, and I did not. Yet, she appeared to recognize the term “veryatlantic”, so I encouraged her to visit the blog, and if she liked it, to make contact. When I said that, she said, “But you are short”.
I would suppose to a woman standing five-nine or ten, a lot of men would appear short. By now I had determined she was divorced with children near 30. And, if you are pushing her age and still hung up on how tall men are, that goes a long way to explaining why so many woman grow old alone. True, men can grow old alone, but it isn’t such a pity. The point is guys, I got turned down by the best looking gal in the place. I not only don’t fear rejection, I will publish it. Who’s the coward now?
Eddie put on a better than average solo act for an hour. We play very different types of music. Where I consider a drum box integral to my show, Eddie drops too many chords and syncopates too many vocals for him to accompany me effectively. Listen to John Prine tunes, you’ll see what I mean. You can get away with that kind of thing with a hillbilly band, but not with strangers and a drum track.
Myself, I played for nearly an hour using my standard set, but this time singing along. The effect is more dramatic than just playing bass, but it is not enough. I will continue working up a full four hours even if it means I will never play any of the big clubs. If that is the level that the world assigns to my music, then I’ll just resign myself to doing that. But to quit playing at all is not an option.
A few of the regulars can guess how much is in my tip jar, and they know things are getting strained. If my equipment had smashed on the floor, I’d be out of business for weeks. It turns out one of the knobs on my stand had not been fully tightened. A few people suggest I take a week off. That is the first tactic of a rookie. It may work and on the other hand, you may return to find somebody younger and prettier doing your show. Common sense has nothing over experience in show biz. You might as well have a tall Russian girlfriend to make decisions for you.
In summation, I played music, called bingo, and met a gal who’d heard of me. Can I improve on that in the short run? Yes, I have cash to advertise. Me, commercialize? Definitely. This blog is supposed to behave like a journal, an on-going human interest story. I am alert to the fact I often include topics beyond the average scope of a diary. I also get compliments for it. I will again look at that outfit that will place an ad in one million small town newspapers for a couple hundred bucks. I’ve wanted to give that a stab for years. Call me old fashioned if I think when something becomes a household word, those houses should be spread all over the damn place.
