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Apr 28 2011

The First Amendment…Porn’s ok & Music’s not???

categories The Subway Diaries - Adventures of a Subway Musician | | comments Comments (0)

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Seriously – so under the First Amendment Porn is now ok/legal in NYC Public Libraries but music is still not allowed/legal in the NYC Subways????
Apr 26 2011

Damn Cops!

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Seriously – there’s other stuff to do down there in the trains than mess w/ me to save your job!!!

Damn Cops! Ticket – summons – court! All surpassed the ridiculous tonight. This cop passed by me, listed for over 45 minutes, smiled and said nothing, not a thing, nada! Then, out of the blue he comes up behind me & says “Ummmm…do you have an ID? I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to write you a ticket, you’re gonna get a summons & you’ll have to go in front of the judge, but it’s all bullshit so he’ll dismiss it.By the way, are there any warrants out for your arrest? Tell me, honestly, ’cause if you  don’t I’ll get in trouble”
“No, no warrants Officer Chin” I answered, grabbing his name from his badge and name tag
“You’re sure, right? I mean everyone says that but you’re  sure  there are no warrants out for you?”
“As far as I know, nothing” I bit  my  tongue at this  point as I was itching to sing as me and the audience were having a very good night underground
“Ok, well, I ‘ll go on your word ’cause I don’t want to go back up there and see  my supervisor to run your ID through the system.  So, here’s the deal, once I”be given you the ticket, you can keep on playing. I just have to show my supervisor that I”m doing something or else I get fired. See, there was apparently this guy with a gun that we were looking for and because I did not find him  my  supervisor thinks I’ve not been  doing anything. So, I’m gonna have to write you up so it looks like I’ve done something, otherwise I’ll get in trouble.”
wtf!!!
“Really? I can  keep singing even  after you’ve  given me a summons? But what about your  supervisor?”
“Oh, she’s super lazy, she’ll never  come  down here, believe me. She never  does  anything but  sit up there”  and he  pointed up to the landing above me where I guess the ‘grand mistress’ that is  the new female “Lazy Lieutenant’ resided
As officer Chin wrote the ticket he  kept chatting saying; “Yeah, I told the Lieutenant I was doing my job, I was down here, right? You saw me right? I was doing my job. But she saw me resting once and said “What are you doing, go do something useful” So, yeah, now I have to write  you up or I’ll get fired.”
“So, why me, and not the guy playing piano across the platform?
“Oh, he’s just lucky. I just saw you first. But don’t worry, it’s all bullshit. Hmmmm…I don’t even know what to write this up for. I guess I’ll just put that you’re blocking traffic”
Blocking traffic? Blocking traffic? Seriously? God – where was my tape recorder!!! I mean the entire conversation was beyond absurd!!!It was eight thirty at  night on he Downtown A,C,E Port  Authority and barely an audience member around. Although the few people sitting on the bench watching this  whole thing in awe  had  been  a fabulous audience just a few minutes prior and for that I was supremely  grateful.
Anyway, as  rediculous as this act was on the cop’s part, now I’m ‘on record’ which means if another cop  decides to save his or her ass at my expense before the court date of July 11th, 2011,   I go to jail. Seriously, you couldn’t make this stuff up….it’s beyond absurd &  I  don’t wanna play this game…& need to busk. I need to make a living.
God, I’m just trying to earn the cash to eat & finish my album! ‘leavemealonenypd’…..this was  harassment!
PS the gunman…he’s still out there ‘sans’  summons
Apr 19 2011

Lilys, Sunflowers & Tour Dates in the Sun!

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So, last night I had a dream of  two dancers/mystics in long, colourful robes, movine & dancing across a green lawn, each one holding a flower. The first held an enormous, larger-than-life White Lily and the second an equally large, oversized Sunflower. After that dream, somehow now I knew Spring had finally arrived in NYC! We all thought it might actually skip us this year the way the winter dragged on. But the trees are in bloom, the flowers are comin’ up & birds tweeting madly. I even saw a goose lay her egg (all be it not golden) as I was running along The Hudson River. This truly is my favourite time of year & I hope all of you are enjoying it to the max.

I’m blessed this year to usher in the season with a full schedule of gigs & appearances that allow me to actually see the sun as I sing, speak & sign books! The tour dates range from Nassau Bahamas to Middletown Ct with fun appearances in between. Check out all the happenings below & I hope to see you all either above ground or under!

  • 5/12/11 NYC, NY Taping of Different Voices with host Poet Minor on Time Warner TV, Chanel 56 – Open to Public www.bliptv.com/differentvoices
  • 5/13/11 5/13/11 NYC, NY Performing at  “New York’s Underground Streets” Event 10PM @ “Terminal 5”
  • 5/15/11 I’m teaming up w/ fabulous documentary film maker, producer Justin Morales & Associate Producer, Magda Grover on their super film “Busking The System” www.buskingthesystem.com – we’ll be filming in the NYC subways & appearing everywhere together @ festivals & events this summer & beyond so keep your eyes & ears peeled!

A special note of thanks to the brilliant handiwork of bassist & master luthier Rick Mullen who has repaired my much neglected guitar. Thanks to his talent & dedicated work on my ax I’m up and ready to go this Spring! If you’ve got a stringed instrument in need of repair – he’s your guy! www.rickmullen.net

Finally – I’m sending all of you the best wishes for a happy, safe & super creative Spring!

Apr 02 2011

‘Adjustments’ Underground & quotes of the week

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A lot of the buskers have noticed an increased police presence  underground, along w/ cops holding machine guns above on the street.  And, yes, I was ‘nabbed’ by the cops last week @ 59th St/ Columbus Circle.  So, we’ve surmised the latest ‘crackdown is due to us  being at  ‘war’ in Africa and that, of course, logically means no music underground in NYC, NY – Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense…

Which leads me to two favourite quotes of the week for the week – one from your s truly and the other from Rev Michael Beckwith.

“Let’s try the power of love vs the love of power…just for a minute and see what happens” ~ Moi

“When the ego loses, the soul wins” ~ Rev Michael Beckwith