From Feast To Famine

Happy Tuesday morning.

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(page views last night)

I would like to welcome whomever has become my first reader from China. It has crossed my mind that it might be Tanya Huangs family; interested in checking up upon her when she doesn't call...  Not being one to pass up upon an opportunity to generate traffic to this blog, I give you more Tanya Huang (left).

I haven't seen her in about a week. I think she took the rainy days off from playing on Royal Street.

I make my first tip at Cafe Du Monde

Monday night, after the moderately heavy rains stopped, I stepped out of the Starbucks where I had been blogging and walked in no particular direction.

Well, Blow Me Down!

I found myself by Popeyes on Canal Street, where I go to obtain salt packets to add to the cheap beer that I drink.

They had made a snap decision to close early, deeming it to be too slow.

Taking all of the chicken and corn on the cob and biscuits off the warming rack, bagging it up and throwing it out, they had already done, and were closing the place down.

I grabbed 4 ears of corn and an assortment of chicken (some for Howard) and secured it in my own plastic bag; before running to The Unique Boutique for a beer to go with the salt. (Popeyes salt is very good -nice and salty, but not too salty...).

I Reach Out To Punks

"...all over that chicken!"

There was a gaggle of gutter punks with their dogs in front of Uniques. A few musical instruments were being sported by some.

We very rarely exchange conversation, myself and the gutter punks.

Several have asked me to sit in with them when groups of 5 or more of them "jam" on whatever excuse for instruments they have. 

I always think that my playing lead guitar along with their simple arrangements might lend credibility to their music and increase their tip flow ("At least they're not just banging away...") but those tips would only be converted into a bottle of cheap whiskey to be passed around, and then, in their ensuing drunkenness, they would step up their begging antics.

Anybody walking by would get: "Hey, can we have your leftovers?," "Hey, can I finish your beer?," and of course "Do you have any change?" and I just don't want to be a part of that.

So, they probably think that I am a snob and they have just about given up on talking to me.

But, I told them about the big bag of Popeyes food, still hot, fresh off the grill and sealed in a plastic bag. One of the female ones smiled at me.

Last night, I saw the same group and one of them told me: "Hey, that was rad. We were all over that chicken last night; thanks for the tip!"

So, I had done a good deed for some gutter punks.

Back To Cafe Du Monde...

Then, I walked toward Decatur Street. I could see few people, but Cafe Du Monde still had a couple dozen people under its awning.

The place is world famous (one of the "must visit" spots in NOLA) and the opportunity to play there is heavily contested by musicians who wait months in order to get a time slot. 

Tanya and Dorise have not only played there, but cut one of their CDs there, "Live At The Cafe," I believe it is called.

Well, it being a Monday night in the wake of a heavy rainstorm, with few people out; it seemed to me like a very much "entry level" position for someone who wanted to play outside Cafe Du Monde, and so I put down the towel that I sit on and took out the guitar missing the top string; and actually took my time about tweeking and tuning and deciding upon what music I wanted to do.

Eventually I settled into a few uninterrupted (by tweeking and tuning) jams.

After about 15 minutes an Asian lady came over and handed me 5 one dollar bills. That is just the way their customers tip, because the cafe is ridiculously expensive ($7 cups of coffee, to go with the beignets, for example).

A bit later, one of the waitresses came over and handed me a bag of their world famous beignets, and I took that to mean that I had passed their audition.

Then, a guy asked me for a light, which I gave him, and then added $1.37 in change to the sidewalk in front of me (I hadn't even opened my case for tips).

So, thus fortified, I went and caught the very last ferry; hoping to give Howard a gift of Popeyes chicken, corn, biscuits and beignets from Cafe Du Monde.
But, it was not to be.

Howard was staying in his rain spot, I later learned; after having gotten "burned" the previous night by the (unexpected by he) thunderstorms.

It is Wednesday, and I am broke.

I walked to the music store yesterday and replaced my broken string, but didn't make anything playing it.