Trying my luck in the big city

On Tuesday I went down to Sydney to arrange my Sydney City Council busking permit.  I had also applied for another permit over the weekend online with the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, and it arrived in the mail on Tuesday.

So, come Wednesday, off I went on a train to the big smoke.  I started playing on the train.  The commuters were absolutely stoked to have live music in the train carriage, and I got a few applauses after songs. When I got to Woy Woy I listened carefully to the announcement "Next stop is Hornsby, etc".  I know that voice!  So I got on the phone "Glen, are you on a southbound V-series, just out of Woy Woy?"  It was my good mate Glen Duffey who I met at First Budgewoi Cub Pack in 1975, and then later went to High School with him (1977-1980).

I was in carriage 3, so couldn't get back to see him, as the doorway between cars 4 & 5 is locked.  So I told him I'd walk along the platform at Hornsby and get down to the back.  So I kept playing until about Asquith, then slipped down from Car 3 to Car 6 on the platform, and made my way to the back of the train.  Not an easy task getting through the doors between the carriages with a guitar and bag.  And I'm really glad I decided against taking my drum throne to sit on, as it was too heavy.  I put it in the bag before leaving, and then immediately took it out again, as it was just too heavy (weighs 6kg according to its box).

So I chatted with Glen for the rest of the trip as he jumped out at various stations, blowing his whistle and then making announcements.  I did the swapover at Central from the country to the city platforms, got myself down to Circular Quay and looked down from the station.  I couldn't see a single busker out, so I had ideas I'd do all right.  I started at about 4pm near the Toaster on the walkway to the Opera House.  Magic spot, and there was a park bench nearby so I sat on that and played the Rodgers & Hammerstein book (about 9 songs I think) and got the grand total of 90c.  This spot is known as Busking Pitch #2, Circular Quay.

So I thought I'd move, and went down to Busking Pitch #5, which is between wharves 4 & 5, and in the picture above.  I had to stand there, and it wasn't so bad.  I've always sat to busk before, so standing meant I had to learn a few techniques, such as not falling over backwards, but it gives the opportunity to really get into a song by doing a few steps, a la the Shadows.  Come 6 O'clock I needed a rest, and it was incredibly humid and I was sweating profusely (as usual).  So I got myself a junior whopper and a drink and sat in the air-conditioned area at Hungry Jack's on the Quay.  I stayed there nearly an hour while I dried out.

I thought I'd try a different spot when getting back out again, so I moved up to Busking Pitch #8, where there was a convenient park bench I was able to take over.  This is right at the Rocks corner of the Circular Quay wharves.

The picture is from the bench, the Museum of Contemporary Art is on the right of the picture out of shot, and behind the park is George Street.  I was encouraged as I got some coins in the chorus of the very first song, but alas, still really bad.

In total I got $25.85 for nearly four hours playing plus an hour forty minutes on the train each way, so in effect 7 hours to get less than $4 an hour.  Gee, it was like driving a taxi on a Monday or Tuesday night, and I gave that up over twenty years ago.

On the train on the way back, I was sitting in the 3-seat spot at the end of the carriage opposite a young guy.  He got out at Strathfield and I was sitting there looking at the guitar... Looking, looking...  Out it came and I started playing again.  After about 20 minutes a 20-something Asian girl stood up and said "Can you turn that down, please?".  I was playing an acoustic guitar, really quietly without a plectrum, so the answer was not really, no.  I shot back with "Can you move to a quiet carriage, please?" and kept playing all the way from Strathfield to Woy Woy.  As I was singing "My Favourite Things" from the "Sound of Music", I could hear this voice echoing through the carriage.  Weird acoustics?  Nah, the guy in the seat opposite had joined in.  I reckon I had more fun on the train trips down and back than the busking session, and as I got out at Gosford, one guy said if he'd had money he would have given it to me.  It made the trip back absolutely fantastic, I was in the Woy Woy tunnel before knowing it - it's normally a really boring trip from Berowra, over the Hawkesbury and through Wondabyne at night.  But the time just flew, and with one exception, I think the guys in the carriage were quite chuffed.  How often does someone start singing and playing guitar when you're on a train?

I went to Terrigal last night (Friday) and got the third highest takings ever (second to Australia Day and New Years Eve), $33.65 an hour.  Plus I can drive there from home in 20 minutes and take the seat without much hassle.  It might be a while before I get down to Sydney again.  Terrigal is treating me extremely well, so I really need to keep supporting Terrigal.  Plus the words of encouragement from passers-by are magic.

Why so bad?  Definitely the day.  The fact there were no other buskers out points to that.  Maybe the time? From 4pm onwards a lot of people are racing for their ferries - you often see a dozen people bolting for a wharf just as a ferry is about to pull out.  Maybe the spot?  There are hundreds of other spots I could go - maybe Martin Place or Pitt Street would be better?  Going to Sydney is a hell of a risk, Terrigal is more certain for me at the moment.  I'll give it a go later - I have a doctor's appointment in Chatswood on Friday - I'm thinking of heading down after that, maybe.  It's hard work busking in Sydney, so it's going to have to be really good to make it worth my while.  Who knows.  Any comments with suggestions, PLEASE leave them on the blog.  You can do it anonymously or under an assumed name if you like.

Music Making

Okay, well I'd just like to share the instruments I'm making music with at the moment, as I've just photographed them all for insurance purposes.  If the house burns down I can look back here and see what I'm missing!

Firstly, the Maton EM225C

And this one arrived on my doorstep today - a Freedom FAG-640 semi-acoustic guitar in sunburst blue

This is the main busking guitar, the Essex AEP166VS in vintage sunburst

The one below is a 32-year-old Hayakawa Stratocaster copy, which has seen better days

Thiis is an infernal instrument.  ALL the keys are laid out in front of you in plain sight.  WHY can't you hit the right ones all the time?  A Casio CTK-5000 midi compatible keyboard. A keyboard is a must have item

The best piece of exercise equipment you'll ever buy!   Ashton RhythmVX electronic drumkit (left-handed, of course) 

When I saw this guitar strap I just HAD to get it!

100 kg

Well, last night when I got home from busking was an eventful night, but the one thing I'll remember is this:

I must say, the first 15kg were a hell of a lot easier to lose than the last five.  I was discharged from hospital on 27 August (2012), at 120kg (probably a bit more and they were being kind to me).  I had to be weighed to work out the dosage of clexane I'd have to use.  This was the precaution as previous PICC lines I've had (see this blog entry) have clotted - once with disastrous consequences for the sight in my left eye.  But it gives a good baseline.

So I went off to Coles today, and I've had this thought in my head for ages now - that is conceiving the weight loss in 2kg bags of sugar, a fairly standard household item we are all familiar with.  Of course, when I first thought of it in bags of sugar, it was only about five bags.  Still a lofty task to lift and carry back to the car.

Well now, it's ten bags.  What does it look like?

That's ten bags I've squeezed into there.  There are six standing up along the bottom, three sideways along the top and the last hardly fits, but there it is.  Okay, now to lift it up...  The tears welled up in my eyes as a middle-aged woman came into the aisle and started to push her trolley along, so I pulled myself together.

It's a simple fact of physics that I was dragging around that weight with me all the time.  No wonder you get tired!  No wonder the heart has to work so much harder.  No wonder things go wrong medically at a far greater rate...

I'll continue to get lighter.  Another 15kg would be about as far as I can go, but I'm more than halfway there and my stomach is so small these days an entree sized meal completely stumps me, so I'm in the mindset.

Living the dream

Well, today has been a good day.  No, a great day.  I am now the proud owner of a Maton EM225C Dreadnought Guitar.  And the sound is so sweet.  I spent the rest of the afternoon taking photographs of the houses I lived in at Mayfield (Stedman St and Sunderland St) and Waratah (Tighe Street), and then I cruised Maitland Road into Hunter Street and up to the beach.

I parked at the Horseshoe Beach carpark, and used the 'loo at Nobbys Pavillion.  I couldn't resist.  I went back to the car, got the Maton, my chair and busking bag, and out I went sitting under the arches at the Nobbys Beach Pavillion and looking out to the lighthouse.  Just pause a minute to take in that view above.

I did half an hour of Beatles songs, and a massive storm blew up and everyone left, including me.  But the sound of that guitar, and the view... I was in heaven.  Oh, yeah, here's what the Maton looks like:

I can immediately see that that guitar and I are going to get on very well indeed.

Wyong Shire Wowser

I just thought I'd check Wyong Shire Council's busking policy, given that I'm moving north soon and might want to busk there...  Here's what their website says:

Busking


Council does not issue permits or licenses for busking purposes, therefore it is not allowed on Council land.

You may obtain permission to busk in private locations, such as Shopping Centres, by contacting Centre Management.

To busk in The Entrance contact:

The Entrance Town Centre Management
Shop 3/96 The Entrance Rd, The Entrance NSW 2261
Phone: 02 4333 5377

So I rang that number thinking at least there might be a few square metres of land in Wyong Shire where busking was permitted.  They said, Oh Dear, we'll have to get council to change that, our Deed of Agreement states no buskers are allowed except in the Country Music Festival.  She took my number and promised to clarify the issue as she'd been having a lot of enquiries.

But all in all, busking in Wyong Shire on council land is not permitted.  What a bunch of wowsers.  No music in your lives, guys.  Have you all forgotten how to have fun?

PICC gone

I suppose I need to explain the title of the post.  A PICC is a "peripherally inserted central catheter".  Now I suppose I need to explain those four words making up the acronym.

"Peripherally inserted" means put in from the outside.  In medical terms, this usually means the arm or the leg - in my case the arm.  And a "central catheter" is simply a tube going toward the heart chamber ("central" refers to the heart chamber, and a "catheter" is simply a tube.  The common use of the word catheter usually refers to a urinary catheter, but the term simply means tube).  I'll include a picture, as it WILL be worth a thousand words.  Click on it to enlarge - it will be useful.  Click THIS LINK for even more info.

Anyway, the upshot of all this is the PICC I'd had for five months (installed 24 August 2012) was removed on Tuesday morning!!  I no longer have to visit the hopsital every day and get an infusion which took around two hours.  It might not seem like much, but I had to go EVERY day.  Even when I was having radiation therapy I got the weekends off, but for my infusions, it was seven days a week, and I have been one of the longest-term APAC patients they've ever had.

I'm going to miss the nurses at APAC.  They're a fine bunch of staff - all senior nurses who just CARE for their patients.  Really care.  It was a bit of a dreamy feeling getting that PICC out, as I've gotten used to getting in to hospital each day, finding a parking spot (my mobility parking permit is fantastic for that), and lately, getting an hour or so of practice on the guitar - which the guys at APAC used to love.  I used to learn new songs there, so they weren't being performed to the best of my ability, so apologies, guys, for the mistakes.

But this starts yet another new phase in my life.  Next stage is to move house.  I want to live somewhere I have a good view of Lake Budgewoi.  So Toukley, Gorokan, Charmy, San Remo, Buff Point, Budgie or Noraville would all be possibilities.  I suppose Lake Haven needs to be on that list, but it wasn't actually a suburb when I used to live there.  I'm really looking forward to the move and will be visiting Real Estate agents all this week, I reckon.  I'll let you all know how this goes!!

Busking - The things you get

There's always an interesting array of STUFF you get in the guitar case.  The first time it happened to me was on my second-ever session.  I was up at the Crowne Plaza hotel near the taxi rank.  It must have been about half past eleven, and I could see someone putting something down next to the guitar case.  It turned out to be 24 Chocolate liqueurs, exactly as pictured!

On the same night, and probably left by the same guy was the most interesting thing I'vehad to date, and it will probably hold the record for a while. Kama Sutra Oil of Love.  Whatever that is...  I can only speculate as to why *I* got these things, and not the probable original intendee.  I'm assuming he brought them with him to give to a potential new mate, and the night didn't go so well, he was stuck with them and I got them instead.  Well, I've eaten the chocolate liqueurs, but I've put the Kama Sutra Oil in my glory box.

Sometimes you get UNWANTED things.  About a week ago when I was scraping up the money from the guitar case, it was immediately obvious that all the coins were wet!!!  It seemed to be only water, and upon further rummaging I noticed a few small fragments of ice.  Some joker had put a few ice-cubes in while passing.  I heard them go in, too - there was a funny chinking noise, but when I looked down at the guitar case I couldn't see anything wrong.  Fortunately I mopped it up with my towel (I always take two) and was able to carry the guitar home in the case and open it up to dry it out later.

I've had an assortment of foreign currency.  I first got some new New Zealand coins (20 NZc passed off as a ten cent coin), then some from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia.  There seemed to be a definite trend among the Asia-Pacific region from south-east to north-west, until I got a coin from Switzerland (I suppose that is still north-west, just a lot further).  I even got a one US dollar bill a few nights ago.  The thing is only worth 95c.  I wonder how much a bank would charge to convert it, and whether they would actually want me to pay them MORE than the $US1 bill...