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Originally posted by cadoll
 

 

 

Lee, just got the chance to read all your busking tales.  Very entertaining.!

 

Can you fill me in on how you make the marienetts? (Sp).  I would love to try this!  Could you possibly commission one using.a squirrel ?

 

Could you do one using a squirrel?  Kids think squirrels are cute:)

 

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Glad you like my marionettes and stories.. Yes, I could make one for you..$250 plus shipping...Do you already have a stuffed animal squirrel head?... I have a youtube channel.....   lee mysliwiec ..........and if you go there you can see a video of the "anatomy'.. of an undressed marionette.. I'll give as much advice as needed..I'm still tweeking the ones I have because I'm still learning this stuff myself..

As usual I have come late to the party. These stories are priceless!  What I wonder is if it's possible to get one of these marionettes to play strathspeys and slow airs. I think I'm gonna make one named Niel Gow and have him teach me to play. He'd make a great icebreaker at the Monday evening sessions in the Shire town, but I imagine his elbow joint would be smoking after an hour and a half of reels.

Thanks for the fun ideas,

Harold

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Originally posted by Jaunskots
 

As usual I have come late to the party. These stories are priceless!  What I wonder is if it's possible to get one of these marionettes to play strathspeys and slow airs. I think I'm gonna make one named Niel Gow and have him teach me to play. He'd make a great icebreaker at the Monday evening sessions in the Shire town, but I imagine his elbow joint would be smoking after an hour and a half of reels.

Thanks for the fun ideas,

Harold

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Harold, this little guy can play anything that you play, and the more you play, the better he will get.  There can be an extra elbow installed...

Black Friday... Tourist town.. $120 in three hours.. and the fun was priceless...

Lee. For the 250 will I get a fiddle as well? And will he play when I take a coffee break?:)

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Originally posted by cadoll
 

Lee. For the 250 will I get a fiddle as well? And will he play when I take a coffee break?:)

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Yes, of course.

Lee, I think it is phenomenal that you can work marinates and play fiddle play fiddle at the same time...my hat goes off to you brother. You must have four arms and I would pay a $100 bucks just to see this.

I thought I was doing ok playing with one hand behind my back but you got me beat...play on. Play on my brother.

Jerry

Here ya go Jerry.. You can just send me the $100..I'll take a check......The banjo player is the marionette.. I don't know who that little guy is.

Checks on it's way. Lee that is cool. Looks lilke the little fellow is following you bow strokes. The check is on a little peice of paper thats say's bll. Jerry

Lee,  soon as I save up some bucks I think I will have to purchase one of your creations.  Don't know what to dress it as as of yet but some suggestions would be welcum.

How do you get the head to turn??

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Originally posted by cadoll
 

Lee,  soon as I save up some bucks I think I will have to purchase one of your creations.  Don't know what to dress it as as of yet but some suggestions would be welcum.

How do you get the head to turn??

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If you could order one, I'll dress it for you, I just need an idea..As for the head turn, the head sits on a shaft (neck) that goes down to about the middle of the back.."C" brackets keep it in place but it is not tight.. A rubber band is attached to the shaft.  When I pull the head turn string (usually tied to my foot), the rubber band pulls it back.. Simple but effective.  

While I'm here I'll tell today's busking story.  Fourty Three degrees is too cold to busk in ....but I went out anyway...I stood across the street form a "Pipeline"  (you know the one) Demonstration on the courthouse square... Anyway, one of the local homeless people came by.  He said his name was "Crazy Dave"..I'd met him before but he didn't remember me.. Anyway, he stopped and chatted for a bit and then dug into his pocket and gave me a bunch of change.. I told him that he needed it more than I did, but he was insistent......He said that me and the rabbit had made his day..Well, Crazy Dave made my day in return.

Lee, I'm getting old now and I fugure the little guy plays better than me. So I want one. Just put it in an envelope. Jerry

We're Baaaackkk...  This is an article in Bloom Magazine about me and Harry Hare.. I hope you enjoy it..  ( I know that there is a way to rotate this photo, but I'll be darned if I can find out how)

I was busking in an outdoor cafe for tips. People were eating at tables and watching us. I played a lick on the fiddle, a bee landed on my fingerboard and stung me. I said OW, dropped the bow, brought my hand up to my face [still holding the fiddle], pulled the bee out of my finger, wound up like a baseball pitcher and threw it into the bushes. People looked kind of horrified. Like I'd had a seizure or something. I told them what happened and got a laugh. Luckily we were almost done. That finger hurt...

Dropped the bow? Ouch. How's it doing?

Hey Lee, Nice write-up you got there! Harry's a hit!

This weekend I spent over 12 hours busking at the Columbia, Mo True/False Documentary Film Festival.. My stepdaughter is one of the organizers..Harry Hare was a big hit and I came to within $23 of my projected earnings in tips.  I was pleasantly surprised when a passerby carrying a fiddle asked if my name was Lee. Apparently she had heard about Harry Hare here on the Hangout.. Her name is Connie Williams and is a Hangout member.. She, and her friend, Tom, busked with me for about 1/2 of an hour.. That was one of the highlights of the weekend.

I had planned on spending 6 hours busking each day but my shoulders were just unable to hold up the fiddle and bow after two, two hour stints daily.  Maybe next year I'll do some shoulder conditioning  before I go to the festival.

Also, this year I became keenly aware of how sneaky some people can be.  So many people would take photos and videos and not leave a tip (they don't Have too, but it would be nice)  that I felt compelled to make a sign that read "If you take a photo or video, please  TIP".....That worked pretty well.  However, there were many people who would hold their cell phones in video mode and were obviously trying to get a video without me seeing what they were doing.. When I observed that, I just quit playing...I think I'll bring this issue up as  separate Hangout topic......

Here is a photo of me, Harry Hare, and Connie Williams busking..Click on the photo and it will be right-side up..

Today was interesting.. I arrived at a corner, set up and started busking.. This one guy who is often at that corner came and sat down about 15 feet from me and put out his cup in hope of getting some donations.....I've seen him often and have chatted with him.. Well, this car stopped at the red light.. A lady got out and ran over to me and put $20 in my tip basket.. I wasn't expecting that big of a tip, but OFTEN people at the light give a tip.. they don't realize that I'm tied to the marionette and can't go and get the tip from them while they are in their car.. Fortunately, this car had a passenger who could get out and deliver the tip..

THEN< comes the problem.. I made the mistake of telling my poor friend (with his cup, hoping for a donation), that I had just received a $20 tip.. He went 'postal'.. "You should be sharing with me.. This is MY corner"...(he wasn't there when I set up to busk)... I told him that I had as much right to be there as he did and that I was there FIRST... ..No matter.  He was offended.. Of course I don't think for a moment that if I wasn't there that that person would have gotten out of their car and run to give him a $20... (Or, maybe they would have?)

Such is life.   Yes, he is usually on that corner.. If I see him sitting there when I arrive,  I just go across the street and give him space.. Not so, with him.. He thinks he owns the corner.. I've had that problem with other homeless persons..It doesn't matter who gets there first.. it is "THEIR" corner.... 

I'll keep this same pattern of busking.. If they are in their space, I'll go somewhere else.. but If I get there first...I'm staying..

I do remind them that I'm only there for 2 hours, max, at a time.. They can have the other 22 hours...\

The life of a busker is ACTION PACKED !!!

As usual, busking was interesting.   Two things happened.. One, as I was setting up a homeless woman asked me if I was homeless. I said no, that I was a street performer.. Then she said , why am I out here taking money away from the homeless? (another busker friend has had the same thing said to him)... There wasn't a homeless person within 500 feet of me.. The homeless population in our city ( not all of them) think that they own the streets.. Sad... 

Now, a more cheerful thing happened.. I always explain that Harry Hare came to be one night when lightening struck my house.  I say that the next morning, Harry was alive and playing his fiddle.. Then, I noticed a hole in the tip of one of his ears caused by a support wire that I had placed there to shape his ears...I had planned on stitching it up with some invisible thread, but a passer by suggested that I just say that the hole in his ear is where the lightening bolt struck....works for me...

It has just occured to me that Busking Stories can be shortened to  B-S... Hmmm ...works for me also...

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Ahhh, Lee......you astute observer of the human condition.

Well, today it was just about ten degrees too cold to busk.  50 and above, I busk, but 49 and below, it is too cold for my delicate hands.  So, here is a list of thing that Didn't happen on the street today.. 1. There were no accidents caused by people double-taking Harry hare. 2. NO homeless people were angry at me for stealing from them. 3. Not even one restaurant employee brought me a coffee or thanked me for entertaining their customers..4, not once did I have to move to find a warmer spot, out of the wind. 5, I didn't have to invest $2 in parking meter expenses.. and 6.  nobody tried to sneak a video of me and Harry performing.  Life is Good.

Sounds like a great day.

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Originally posted by tpquinn
 

Sounds like a great day.

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Yes, it was a good day......until it came time to count the tips...

Waiting at Firestone for my car, fiddling to kill time. A guy comes up and drops a tip in the cinder block that holds the door open, I thanked him and enjoyed a chuckle.

Murphy's law, as it applies to busking......."There will always be more people on the OTHER side of the street.."