various buskers

Busking

If Saturday is anywhere near as nice as today, I'll be playing in Kensington Market from mid-morning until after lunch. If you hear me, stop by and say hi.

Aldo Rizzardi?

I had a great day busking in Kensington Market today. I played from about 10 until 1:30 this afternoon, without anything more than a water break. By the time I was done, I was pretty tired, and my fingers were objecting to more play. I'm saving my busking money for a 3/4 size 3-reed piano accordion I have my eyes on.

While I was playing today, there was a fellow hanging out for quite a while. He told me I should check out the recordings of Aldo Rizzardi, an Italian player who lived in Mexico (and in particular a song called Paris Bridge Down. Mr. Rizzardi played the chromatic button accordion.

Quite a few people took pictures today, and tips were really good, but I didn't sell any CDs...maybe next time. It was really a beautiful sunny day in the market. There were a lot of people out and about. I was surprised at how many people with dogs I saw. I'd say I saw at least 30 dogs out walking their people. I especially like the market punker dogs who seem to have the same edge as their owners.

I had to move once, about half an hour after I started playing because the Hot Box pot-head cafe decided to blast reggae out to the street while I was playing across the street. I moved a short bit down the street, and settled on the north side of Baldwin at the east side of Tom's place.

Busking

I renewed my busking permit with the City of Toronto today. This year it only took 45 minutes compared to the hours in a line-up last time. Tomorrow promises to be a nice day, so I'm planning on playing in Kensington Market for a few hours, mid-morning to early afternoon. If you're in the area and you hear button accordion, stop by. Naturally I'll have copies of Cachorros Piquantes available.

PS....thanks Muppie! Your CDs will be in the post Monday morning.

Busker in a bad spot

This video has a fun ending...

Whatever happened to....Crad Kilodney

Tuffy and I were talking about this the other day, and it came up again last night at a little bbq out in the back 40. Readers who have lived in Toronto for over a dozen years will likely remember Mr. Kilodney selling his books on Bloor St. He was busted for selling his books on the street in 91. How many authors can boast that they've been arrested for selling their own work? He used to wear signs that advertised his products as, for instance, "Rotten Canadian Literature". In 1988, he apparently submitted a number of works by famous authors to the CBC literary competition under different names - all were rejected. Mr. Kilodney's works included:
* Lightning Struck My Dick - 1980
* Human Secrets - 1981
* Pork College - 1984
* I Chewed Mrs. Ewing's Raw Guts - 1988
* Nice Stories for Canadians - 1988
* Excrement - 1988
* Blood Sucking Monkeys from North Tonawanda - 1989
* Junior Brain Tumours in Action - 1990
* Girl on the Subway - 1990
* Putrid Scum - 1991
* Suburban Chicken Strangling Stories - 1992
Perhaps you have some of his books around the house.

In 1995 he 'retired' from writing and ceased being a fixture on the Toronto streets. I had heard at the time that he had moved to the States. It turns out he became a day trader.
Biographical Information about Kilodney.
A list of books with cover images.
Photos
Short works. This is a treasure box of goodies.

Busking in Kensington - filmed

I did a little busking in Kensington Market (here in Toronto) today, and Candy Minx was there shooting some video footage. So to those folks who have been asking to see some busking video from mister anchovy, hopefully Candy will have some material posted up on youtube as soon as she's had a chance to sort through the footage.

Busking

With the nice weather, I'm trying some new busking spots. Today I played in front of City Hall, on the sidewalk near the hot dog vendors and the chip trucks and the mister softee guys. This was not a bad spot, and I think in summer it will be a very good one. There were two highlights today. The first was a mom and two kids dancing in a circle to the music, holding hands. The second was when some guy approached me while I was playing.... he was walking with a bicycle, and he said, "Hey dude, wanna buy a bike cheap?".

Busking Permit Adventure

The city has amalgamated licensing offices as of the end of March, which meant that I had to go to the East York Civic Centre at Coxwell and Mortimer to get my busking permit. No matter what your license-related business, you have to stand at the end of a long line. I was in it for close to two hours. Finally, I got to the counter. I handed the lady my application. What is this for? Busking? Busking like how? Busking like playing a button accordion. OK. Do you have a business license. No. OK. She typed for a minute, handed me my application and said, sit down, we'll call you. Sat down for 15 minutes until my name was called. Mister Anchovy, why are you here. To get a busking permit. Busking like how? Busking like playing a button accordion. OK, go to cubicle 6 around the corner. I stand at cubicle 6 for a minute or so. So what do you do? I play a button accordion. Please write that on the application form. OK. You know it's $34.00. Yes. I take out my wallet. No, sir, you don't pay here? I don't. No you have a seat at the cashier's waiting area. It will only be a few minutes. I wait and after a few minutes I get called. It's $34.00. OK. She hands my my permit. I want to clarify a couple of the restrictions. I'm sorry sir, cashiers don't have that kind of information. No? No. You'll have to stand in line at the front. You should have asked your questions the first time. I'll take my chances that I don't do anything wrong. I can give you our call-centre number. We have 3 people who answer the phones. OK. Have a nice day.

Dan the 1-man band

mister anchovy - licensed to busk?

I called City Hall this morning to find out about busking permits. I figure one won't get me back into St. Lawrence Market but it may help me avoid getting chased away from other venues this summer. The nice person on the phone said, just come on down and give us the 35 bones and we'll give you a permit...so I did.

The person I talked to at the licensing office, however, told me I had wasted my time coming down today because permits are April to April, so if I bought one today it would only be good for a couple weeks before I would have to get another one. You would think the person I spoke to on the phone would have told me to chill for a couple weeks.

BUT NO....

.

So I asked if perhaps they could simply forward date my permit. The lady said she couldn't do that because I might try to use the permit before April 1. I said, look, all sorts of people busk without permits....I'm trying to be a fine upstanding guy doing the right thing here. Surely if the permit is dated April 1 and I did try to busk prior to that date, and a bylaw enforcement officer happened to out nabbing errant buskers, and I got caught......that I would endure the same penalty without a permit as I would with a forward-dated permit.

Be reasonable I said.

Sir, it's the law.

I wouldn't want you to break the law.

Let me say that the next mayoralty candidate who runs on a platform of eliminating stupid bureaucracy gets my vote.

So, I will go back after April 1.... and I will be licensed to busk!

Busker's bad day

I was playing away on my button box this morning down at St. Lawrence Market when I was approached by the security guy. I recognized him, as he is there all the time on Saturdays. We usually exchange hellos. He told me that one of the vendors had complained about my music to the market manager and he had to ask me to stop playing.

I guess one of the vendors didn't like my music, and I respect that they are paying for space and I'm not. However, I am very, very disappointed. I have really enjoyed playing down there, and most people seem to really enjoy the music. I get lots of positive comments, and I don't think I've had anyone say they didn't like it.

The good thing about St. Lawrence is that it is busker-friendly. Lots of people play down there. Now I will have to come up with another place to play. Perhaps outdoors at Kensington? I think Harbourfront licenses buskers but I don't know how it works or what kind of fees are involved. The subway is an option, but I don't see a lot of joy in playing to people who are trying to get to somewhere else.

Back to the drawing board. Suggestions welcome.

Note to the fellow who asked this morning how to contact me...just send me an email or leave a comment here.

Busking

I made today my first busking day of 2007. I got down to St. Lawrence Market at about 9:30 this morning with my button box and played until just after 1:00 (with a lunch break). There was already a guitar picker there, but we get on well, and seem to coexist in our spots in the north building pretty well. A cello player also set up between the doors to the north building after I got started. She plays a classical set and sounds very nice. It was a real workout on my fingers today, and towards the end, I was having a bit of trouble making my fingers negotiate a couple of the fast pieces I do. I added in three tunes I wasn't playing in 2006 - The Reno Waltz, a Cajun number; a very nice corridinho (a fast Portuguese dance tune) that I don't have the title of, and a Basque Paso Doble. I've only just committed the paso doble to memory, so I felt a little shaky playing it today, but I did play it a few times without major disasters. Paso dobles are in 2/4 time, like polkas, but have more of a march feel about them. This one I learned from a selection of tunes used in some kind of Basque cultural club in Idaho. A player from Boise who I met at Button Box Camp sent them to me.

I play one Newfie tune busking, called The Star of Logy Bay, and three times today, somebody came up to me grinning after hearing it and said something like, "Star of Logy Bay....are you from Newfoundland"? Almost every time I play I'm surprised by somebody recognizing that song.