General Chat (Non-Music-Related)

for those not intelligent enough to grasp something as simple as that, and always in need of something to complain about, and butt heads over....

...and if the stocking cap fits.....wear it loudly and proudly!

besides dane....i would have hoped you'd wish me a happy birthday today.

My birthday is the 6th also....oldest son on the 8th, next son on the 10th, sister on the 13th, brother on the 21st, grandma also on the 6th, aunt on the 9th, nephew on the 14th, niece on the 22nd....


Merry Kwanukamas

Surprising number of Dec birthdays, mines the 12th.


Dayne ... As far as I remember, Mike has the numbers right but I don't have my info with me. SS reduces your check by $1 for every $2 you make at work up to a certain limit, I think he had the 2017 minimum limit right. Mine starts up in Feb. May as well, pure hell for me to find a job anyway.

Get a good sleeping bag. The less you wear inside it the more body heat it traps. I've woke up with ice on my moustache sweating inside my sleeping bag, just a pair of shorts.

If you find a little used road, under the top of an overpass is a nearly flat area that's a good place to sleep, out of sight and out of the rain. Busy roads suck, too noisy. I've slept in cornfields too...

Find out what places you can play on a street corner for tips, I made a living in Austin for 3 years with just an acoustic. 6th street was great but I hear it has changed a lot since then. Haven't been back in 20 years. You know about open mic nights already. As a street musician though, singing is a great benefit.

Check around wherever you are, sometimes you can meet someone who will let you grab a piece of floor for a night or 3.

Can't think of anything else right now but I bet I'm forgetting plenty. I did pretty good in Austin, hitch hiked there every week from 2 hours away, stayed with a friend, made pretty good money but we were both very good singers, had a good song list and didn't stay wasted. If we didn't clear $100 each on a Saturday might something was very wrong. $50 or better on weeknights was not uncommon.

Check with the street people wherever you go, often they know of good places to lay out a sleeping bag, sometimes actually in the drainage systems if it's dry. I know several places round Austin, almost any road has an overpass somewhere, a lake is often nearby...

I don't know if I agree with the advice...
But Billy, since we are sharing some life stories... Thinking back...

Over 40 years ago, I was going to school in Boston. I knew this little hippie girl from California. She wasn't all that much to look at, but boy could she play fiddle. Boy could she play a crowd.
More than once she would ask me to "cover" her, be a look out... Playing in the trolley terminals was prohibited.

Anyway, I was shocked because in a half hour she had people dropping tens and twenties in her little fiddle case. Part of my job was to pull the cash out her case to keep her from appearing to make to much. There was very little coinage given to her. I was amazed at the generosity of people paying for her FREE ticket.
We never stayed for more than a half hour, but she rewarded me with a quick 50 bucks. She only did it when she needed some extra cash. I know she was walking out with at least 200 bucks.
Laughing my asss off when I think about bands that I played in... 200 bucks plus part of the door... For, hours of rehearsal and set up and buying equipment.

Anyway Billy...Just swapping stories. There was a pizza place around the corner we called "SLICE" because many out of state students never heard of a pizza place that would sell one slice. Back then, pocketing that kind of money allowed me the treat of going out and spending one whole dollar for 2(two) slices. Come to think about... It wasn't the best pizza, the cheese was cheap, it was flavorless, and it took a healthy amount of red pepper and parmesan cheese to make it palatable...(Sorry I still don't think pineapple belongs on pizza.)

Did I ever tell you about the three legged dog that stole a slice from a drunk? That was up in New Paltz NY. Way too funny watching this guy stagger after this poor little crippled dog running away with his slice of pizza hanging out of his doggy mouth. I don't think I would want that slice back anyway...

Dayne, nobody knows what to tell you. Myself included. Good luck and may you have some good news in the coming new year. I will wish you a Merry Christmas, but please don't interpret it as anything more than a heartfelt position of goodwill. I am not making lighthearted remarks about your situation. I hope you find some resolution.

Pete

I had similar adventures as a youth. But it was sleeping in a culvert by a corn field (you reminded me of this) that made for a morning. I had a bottle of Old Spice in the pack I used as pillow, somehow it got open and for quite a long time it seemed my world smelled like old Spice! My bass was fortunately wrapped in a sheet and missed by the errant after shave...

Talbot

https://forum.bandmix.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=33481&sid=511cc56c86cf0eb15336090efecdee69#p281639

That was nice Schmeddy! Reaching out and sharing like that proves you are a pretty good guy. Merry Christmas.

it's brutal out there.. my social experiment is coming to and end.. how can those smelly dudes at the public library live endlessly like that?..brutal.. i

Used to play with this harmonica player, Bris Crider, who would play solo in between sets for tips. He ALWAYS made more in a 15 minute break than the band got for the night. That dude was phenomenal.

One of the things I learned while on the road for the last 12 years was survivalism. I usually would get a room between gigs but there were times when I didn't have enough money left after the agent/manager/accountant/record label/IRS were paid, and I had an air mattress (and full camping gear) in my van for just such emergencies. Or maybe I was driving and didn't book a room until it was too late. Either way, I have lived like a homeless man before.

McDonalds was my internet and coffee. Panera Bread was my internet and lunch. Walmart was my bathroom and overnight parking space many times.

But living on the street? No way. You lose your possessions when your eyes close.

Ted

Air mattress? That's luxury man! I used to sleep on the SVT cabinet in my Pinto station wagon! I preferred the old Kustom amp I had before that - at least it was padded!

Happy New Year

Talbot

Ted

Air mattress? That's luxury man! I used to sleep on the SVT cabinet in my Pinto station wagon! I preferred the old Kustom amp I had before that - at least it was padded!

Happy New Year

Talbot

haha, yea I remember those old plastic paddings on the Kustom PA cabs. Sleeping on that cab in a Pinto? Doesn't seem like the physics work on that one. Did you have to squench up against the inner roof?