Wienershithole, Day 4

I absolutely love playing in the rain. I love the feeling of defiance and how much happier I can make the street. The whole feel changes from drab to romantic. I arrived for my first pitch (8.11.10) just before it began to pour, with strongish winds blowing north up Barnabitengasse. I played close to the wall at the north end of the archway, and people were very generous. Again I played songs I hadn't in forever - slower contemplative songs that fit the mood. I got my first tip for a Jim Croce song with I Got a Name and even had a go with Fast Car.

At one point the sun shone through the rain and I took the opportunity to very happily sing Here Comes the Sun. People gave me bewildered looks but then looked and noticed the bright sun and smiled. Rainy day pitches have funny dynamics, too, since all my tips from this time were either €0.10 or €2.

Now one expense I've omitted from the tablature I wrote up is my letter writing. Mostly because it's quite a bit more expensive than one'd expect. If you've received a letter from me - and chances are if you read this and I have your address you have - you know I take a lot of time selecting paper and envelopes. One of the first things I do upon arriving in a new place is scour it for a paper store, which seem to be a dying breed since no one writes letters anymore. So between pitches today I finally found one, Mastnak, enormous and sort of a paradise for a stationary devotee like myself.

Back to the music. My second pitch was notably dryer and the tips went similarly. For whatever reason I decided to sing only girls' songs. Nothing of note occurred till Geoffrey wandered down to meet me and I sang him Painting By Chagall and a wonderful pair of Filipina ladies paused, smiled and tipped me after rooting for a while. I sang them an extra chorus.


This is how I tend to carry my guitar down the street. Cuz it's heavy, especially after tips.

Geoffrey and I walked to the city center where he treated me to some breaded pork, Wienerschnitzel, which was excellent - if mostly for the protein factor. Oh yea, and that it's meat. It was a perfect last night together, with great conversations, ice cream and some anime. On the way back we encountered a bad-toothed young busker sitting inside the metro - counting on the lateness, no doubt, to be safe from polizei. He was singing Coldplay's Fix You, very well and I tipped him a euro, then asked to learn it from him. We sat a few minutes while he went through it and another Coldplay song and we exchanged some tips about good busking songs. Perhaps I should venture out late to circumvent the lovely peacekeepers, too.

The namesake of the titular pun.

Earnings: €29.08, 2.3 hours
Song of the Day: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman