This post is NOT about religion.. It is about a busking gift. So, while busking in beautiful downtown Nashville (Indiana) we drew a little crowd.. Now, I'm 80 years old and this guy of about 70 years hands me a religious tract about Jesus. He said, "Here, read this. It is a true story.'' To be polite I accepted it and I asked him to drop it into the tip jar since my hands were busy with a fiddle and a puppet. It fell from his hands and missed the jar, landing instead on the sidewalk. As he picked it up he laughed and said, "I'll bet that if it was a $20 bill you'd have caught it in mid air.." We laughed.

Lee!!!! I just played OUTSIDE in the front garden and guess what?! NOONE called the cops on me! I don't know where I am going to write this, so I'll just drop it in your topic., sorry but no sorry <3
It was a very happy sounding dead man's tuning medley in case you would wonder.
Now I feel like walking to the pond area - just by myself (no dog involved) and just play on where the water birds gather...

During regular busking stints, one often learns things by accident.. As you may know, I have Bunny Stamp I like to put on kid's forearms... One day I said, "...and if you go to any restaurant in town and show the wait staff this stamp... know what you'll get?" Their eyes light up in anticipation... ''You'll get NOTHING..." This brought about a large quantity of laughter from all who could hear the dialogue...I hadn't expected such a great response.. Now I use that line many times a day and get a lot of laughs...

Ha! The bitter truth above a sweet lie. Some strongly support this. *sniicker*

I got carded today.. Yep.. A homeless friend came by, already drunk at 1pm., He said it was his birthday and he showed me his bottle in his pocket. He said, "I'm now officially older that YOU." I assured him that I was indeed older than him.. He said, "I'm 67 today. You aint that old." When I told him I was 80 he didn't believe it and demanded, cheerfully, that I show him my ID.. Yep... 8-6-1945.. He said, "Well, I'll be!!".. Then he took his sleeping bag, retreated to a sidewalk area out of the wind about 20 feet away and ....went to sleep. Sounds like a good way to celebrate one's birthday..!!

It is easy to look younger  than 80.. However, with sunglasses on , a hat, and a 5 day beard... that covers a lot of wrinkles and bald spots..I only LOOK young because I'm keeping covered.. Some men don't trim nose hair, eyebrows or beards. Trimming helps one's looks ... It helps to have gotten a haircut.. It all adds up......My Obit won't give me credit for looking young.. it will just show my age..!!!.Having a lovely wife who feeds me well helps..

" 8-6-1945.. " - Well, I guess no one can accuse you of being a Boomer! But, anyway - I wouldn't have taken you for a day over 79!

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Originally posted by Old Scratch

" 8-6-1945.. " - Well, I guess no one can accuse you of being a Boomer! But, anyway - I wouldn't have taken you for a day over 79!

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Younger people don't catch the importance of that date...I like to say that I came in with a bomb and don't want to go out with one!!

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

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Originally posted by Old Scratch

" 8-6-1945.. " - Well, I guess no one can accuse you of being a Boomer! But, anyway - I wouldn't have taken you for a day over 79!

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Younger people don't catch the importance of that date...I like to say that I came in with a bomb and don't want to go out with one!!

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I'd be happy to take the collateral damage if that would mean a better future for my sisters' children and all of the young innocent girls who have to grow up in nowadays Europe. I guess I wouldn't be the only one who has started to hold ideas like this one. Nuff said. Respect for the way you could keep the child in you alive. 

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Originally posted by Quincy

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

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Originally posted by Old Scratch

" 8-6-1945.. " - Well, I guess no one can accuse you of being a Boomer! But, anyway - I wouldn't have taken you for a day over 79!

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Younger people don't catch the importance of that date...I like to say that I came in with a bomb and don't want to go out with one!!

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I'd be happy to take the collateral damage if that would mean a better future for my sisters' children and all of the young innocent girls who have to grow up in nowadays Europe. I guess I wouldn't be the only one who has started to hold ideas like this one. Nuff said. Respect for the way you could keep the child in you alive. 

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The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. local time on August 6, 1945. The bomb, known as "Little Boy," was released from the Enola Gay and detonated 43 to 44 seconds later at an altitude of approximately 1,900 to 2,000 feet. The explosion occurred during morning activity, destroying most of the city. 

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

I got carded today.. Yep.. A homeless friend came by, already drunk at 1pm., He said it was his birthday and he showed me his bottle in his pocket. He said, "I'm now officially older that YOU." I assured him that I was indeed older than him.. He said, "I'm 67 today. You aint that old." When I told him I was 80 he didn't believe it and demanded, cheerfully, that I show him my ID.. Yep... 8-6-1945.. He said, "Well, I'll be!!".. Then he took his sleeping bag, retreated to a sidewalk area out of the wind about 20 feet away and ....went to sleep. Sounds like a good way to celebrate one's birthday..!!

It is easy to look younger  than 80.. However, with sunglasses on , a hat, and a 5 day beard... that covers a lot of wrinkles and bald spots..I only LOOK young because I'm keeping covered.. Some men don't trim nose hair, eyebrows or beards. Trimming helps one's looks ... It helps to have gotten a haircut.. It all adds up......My Obit won't give me credit for looking young.. it will just show my age..!!!.Having a lovely wife who feeds me well helps..

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Perhaps you are young; because you get out there, busking playing fiddle... 

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Originally posted by alaskafiddler

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

I got carded today.. Yep.. A homeless friend came by, already drunk at 1pm., He said it was his birthday and he showed me his bottle in his pocket. He said, "I'm now officially older that YOU." I assured him that I was indeed older than him.. He said, "I'm 67 today. You aint that old." When I told him I was 80 he didn't believe it and demanded, cheerfully, that I show him my ID.. Yep... 8-6-1945.. He said, "Well, I'll be!!".. Then he took his sleeping bag, retreated to a sidewalk area out of the wind about 20 feet away and ....went to sleep. Sounds like a good way to celebrate one's birthday..!!

It is easy to look younger  than 80.. However, with sunglasses on , a hat, and a 5 day beard... that covers a lot of wrinkles and bald spots..I only LOOK young because I'm keeping covered.. Some men don't trim nose hair, eyebrows or beards. Trimming helps one's looks ... It helps to have gotten a haircut.. It all adds up......My Obit won't give me credit for looking young.. it will just show my age..!!!.Having a lovely wife who feeds me well helps..

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Perhaps you are young; because you get out there, busking playing fiddle... 

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I would like to think so.. Remembering having met YOU last summer, you appeared young in spirit and not all that old in body.. Maybe it IS a busking thing..!!

Today was the 'no kings' rally and it was only about 42 degrees when I went out.. gloves, scarf, insulated hoodie.....Downtown was packed.. I almost broke a tip amount record, (about $20 shy) but I DID break another busking record.. Today, I broke my record for the number on non cash busking tip items.. Yep.. I got a religious tract, a bottle of water, a no kings thing to hang, a butterfly on a clip, and a crinoid fossil. That is Five things.

Two things today.. One, I never felt more like there was going to be a 'grab and run' with my tip jar.. Good thing I tie it to Harry's fiddle.. A disheveled man who I'd seen panhandling across the street, came over and walked all around me at about a a distance of 15 feet.. I was ready for a theft attempt but if didn't come..thankfully.

Secondly, I've commented in the past that tips often come after I'm packed up and ready to go home or as I'm walking away.. It happens often enough that I actually expect it. Today was no different. I had about $45 in the tip jar. After the fiddle was put away I slowly took out each bill, stacked and counted it.. As I was doing this I received another three tips totaling $7..... Some day I'm going to just leave my fiddle in the case and count and recount maybe ten singles and see what happens..(OK.. I won't do that .)...

My favorites are the Chick Tracts... They turned me on to really great things like DUngeons and Dragons... The Beatles.. other "evils" in the world haha

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Originally posted by ShawnCraver

My favorites are the Chick Tracts... They turned me on to really great things like DUngeons and Dragons... The Beatles.. other "evils" in the world haha

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I'm with ya Lee. Did Shawn's FHO get hijacked? :-)
I gotta leave to go get a filling now (argh).
But hope you are having nice busking lately...the weather here has been so nice that I've been wanting to play outside too! Hoping to head for the park jam this weekend. We often get some happy listeners wandering by, including kids who would normally be playing in the sandbox :-)

I was puzzled too but decided to Google it. Here's what Wikipedia had to say about "Chick tract:"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_tract

yep. when i was a kid people would hand out tracts... i got one busking several years ago as well.. chick tracts warned of the dangers of rock n roll, marijuana, dungeons and dragons, yoga...new age...they were filled with wild conspiracies... the tracts were to warn us about worldly things, but it made me and my friends more interested in them. so we got into the beatles and dungeons and dragons...new age music... things that are considered evil or satanic in theholiness/ pentecostal churches we went to

...some pretty exciting things today... I received a 50 Rupee note as a tip.. Yep.. I checked it out. Seems that 50 Rupees is worth a whopping 52 CENTS in US Dollars.. but, hey, if Everybody left me 52 cents..I'd be rich.
Also, just as I set up under a canopy to keep dry from the expected rain, (which never came) Two Mack trucks parked in front of me and left their noisey engines running the entire time I was busking.. NOBODY could hear a note that I played.. However, and this makes a point, I still received my fair share of tips!!!! The point is that the Spectacle is at least as important as is the actual music when busking.....Also, a homeless man who I gave $2 to last week gave me a $1 tip.. "what goes around....."

CLEAR!!! Doomph!...Back in the room...

Very exciting time today. We got asked to join a local Mariachi Band!! We turned this opportunity down because it is a large, Professional band and there is NO way that I want to practice enough to perform successfully with them. Also we were asked to perform at the WHite house for the 250 celebration.. Had to turn that down because we didn't have bus fare..

..don't know where to put this soze I'll put it here..
For the record, LAST YEAR was my last Clifftop event.. Yep.. Staying home and Busking this year.. Pass the word. Really, when you are in a Clifftop evening jam ...you'll be having so much fun that you won't even notice that I'm not there...Such is life.. Have fun..!!

I am sure you will be missed, Lee!!

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Originally posted by TuneWeaver

..don't know where to put this soze I'll put it here..
For the record, LAST YEAR was my last Clifftop event.. Yep.. Staying home and Busking this year.. Pass the word. Really, when you are in a Clifftop evening jam ...you'll be having so much fun that you won't even notice that I'm not there...Such is life.. Have fun..!!

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I'll miss you.  I hope I see you down the road somewhere.