|
|
gallagher Inner circle 1168 Posts |
Hey,..we're out again(!).
Pulled out Sunday. ahhh. The world still spins. Before, we left, Sunday evening; the waggon was packed we'd dried-run both Shows, for our neighbors, ..it was 4 o'clock. Monika was taking her last 'chicken-in-a-soup-pot bath',... the kind where you simmer for a good hour. It's kind of a road tradition,.. clean behind the ears, for the new dust to collect. I'd already enjoyed mine, so with clean hands and the feeling, "... if I calmly sat down, pulled a book from the shelf, and read a bit,... I could maybe convince myself,... I wasn't really nervous." I reached. Pulled.... Laurie Lee came with. Almost like flypaper,..couldn't get him off. "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning". I cracked the paperback to page 16. "....I felt tense and shakey. It was the first time, after all. I drew the violin from my coat like a gun. It was here, in Southampton, with trains rattling overhead, that I was about to declare myself. One moment I was part of the hurrying crowds, the next I stood nakedly apart, my back to the wall, my hat on the pavement before me, the violin under my chin. The first notes I played were loud and raw, like a hoarse declaration of protest, then they settled down and began to run more smoothly and to stay more or less in tune. To my surprise, I was neither arrested nor told to shut up. Indeed, nobody took any notice at all. Then an old man, without stopping, surreptitiously tossed a penny into my hat, as though getting rid of some guilty evidence. Other pennies followed, slowly but steadily, dropped by shadows who appeared not to see or hear me. It was as though the note of the fiddle touched some subconscious nerve that had to be answered---- like a baby's cry." Today, Wednesday, two days under our shoes, we're taking off,... counting and rolling our pennies. Practising and cleaning up our routines. "Slow down. Slow down. Slow down. Calm-fidence....." Smiling for yesterday, hungery for tomorrow. ,...it's good being out. gallagher |
D. Yoder Veteran user 376 Posts |
May your journeys this year go well with full hats, but still have enough troubles to be the fodder for your wonderful stories.
|
gallagher Inner circle 1168 Posts |
Hey Doc, thanks for reading(!),
and the 'blessings'! altho,..I prefer Fudge(!), to fodder! We have the weekend behind us. The Shows are coming together. It's amazing how 'practise' helps!! Sometimes when I practise, I wonder, "What good will doing this over and over?,.. over and over..." ,but... ahhh. It really helps. Slowing it all down,.. extra slow,.. 'over consciously slow'. It really helps us. In everything,.. technique, movement, text. We're taking the next two days off,... settling. Wednesday,...Hamburg. gallagher |
gallagher Inner circle 1168 Posts |
P.s.: I've just realized, I have landed in 'parking-lot paradise'(!);
we've super fast internet(!!),.... free! (We're parked in an old train yard, east of Hamburg. The 'Deutsche Bahn',....German Train, has free internet in all of their carriages. The antenna is in the rails(!!!). Parking within three meters of their rails,.. might be loud,.. at times,.. but the internet is frreeeeee! "cyber-hobo-ing"...) I can upload fotos! , . . . . . . *. . . ß. . . We pulled out eight days ago, Sunday. Our first Show, Monday,.. I was determined(!). We played. Sometimes, I have to 'jump start' a tour. As a Street Performer, with few commitments,.. I can always find a reason NOT to 'open the curtains'. It's been stated, here, in the Sidewalk Shuffle,.. "..the second time out,..! haaa,.. that's the mole's hole." So true. But not just for Virgins. For any and everyone, after a pause, with a new Show, song, or routine,... regardless of the experience; the second day,..the 'runner-up',.. oooohh. The premiere, in the bag; tuesday morning, I woke-up with ten good reasons to keep laying. None of them very good, mind you(!),.. still, there's power in numbers. (Monika was nö big help.,, she only wanted me to get up, in order to have the whole bed for herself.) I got up,..was determined,. motivated by experience,. a bit scared,.. feeling like a teeter-totter,. "should we,.? should we not,..?" ,I sat on the toilet, in our waggon, and looked out into the big parking lot. Across the field, the first thing I saw,.... https://flic.kr/p/Gkq3BN ,..hey I was looking thru the curtains, it was a bit fuzzy,.. I pushed the curtains back,.. https://flic.kr/p/Gkq3BY ,..'nough said. "There's Magic on them there streets....." gallagher |
MVoss Veteran user Boston, MA 372 Posts |
Gallagher,
Love reading your stuff. Like poetry. Anyway, I was wondering. I remember reading last year that you had noticed things on the streets had changed a bit since the influx of immigrants. Does that still seem to be the case? Maybe it will take more time to get a feel for it. But I'm curious if it was a change that has normalized, or if it seems like it is really different on the streets. -MV |
gallagher Inner circle 1168 Posts |
Hey MV,
thanks for reading my writings(!). We've been out 10 days now, basically playing the suburbs around Hamburg. It's still too early for me to answer your question fairly. In the suburbs, the folks are a bit more sheltered. There ARE Refugee centers in the subs, but the biggest concentrations are in the magor city centers. We plan,..hope to have our Show a bit tighter, by next week; then, we will venture deeper into the jungle. The Germans just past legislation, yesterday, allowing a more homogenized distribution of Refugees. With the hopes of preventing ghettos, they want to start spread Refugees, into the 'countryside'. Another interesting thing is, the Germans have the Refugees pretty much registered now. By 'registered', it's nothing like what North Americans can imagine(!). 1.4 million folks have been finger-printed, bio-metrically finger-printed,...eyes, face-shape, ect.. And Genetically registered,..DNA. In Germany, it's commonly accepted(!). ,that takes a bit of getting use to. Another thing is, Refugees are being sent daily into 'schools'. The German Language is being taught,...trying to be taught. German,..Western Culture, as well(!). 3/4 th the Refugees are young moslim men. In the 'schools' 4/5 of the teachers are women(!). The boys are really having a hard time settling down and listening to ladies(!). ,...it's a funny one. Another funny one is, most of the folks are illiterate, in their OWN language(!). German is often the FIRST language they are learning to read and write(!)! I admitt, the changes are a bit scarey,.. and 'changes' are always sheet,.. especially when you're comforatable(!),.... but,.. if things don't change, they tend to remain the same(!). It's exciting! I'll write more, when I have a bit more experience. 'till then,... the Show needs polishing(!). have a good one, gallagher |
MVoss Veteran user Boston, MA 372 Posts |
Thanks for the update. I'm very curious how this will effect Europe and the culture of street art. It worried me a bit last year when you said that it seemed a little apprehensive. Hopefully it is just a settling in period. If anything, maybe the influx will add new cultural depth. Thanks for getting back to me. Have good hats! -MV
|
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The side walk shuffle » » First time. Southampton. 1934,....Laurie Lee. (1 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.03 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |