Diary Of A Busker Day 607 Sunday August 10th 2014 Winchester (1. Opposite Jigsaw, Market Street, Time: 2:35-4:11pm, 2. Opposite Pavilion, Time: 4:32-5:34pm).
After Wonderful Land, I got a £5 note from an old lady in a wheelchair. She was being pushed by two men. Maybe they were taking turns. Anyway, she made them stop in the High Street, about 20 feet to the left, and she was clearly enjoying it, so Wonderful Land – Song Of The Day! However, later on I sold a CD to a woman who’d seen me loads of times. The song that secured the sale? Dixie McGuire. So I think that really has to be SOTD. After all, £6.50 beats a fiver, so first time SOTD for that one. I still can’t play it right, though.
2nd set was an hour, up the road. Just after I started, opera singer and intimate of Cleo Laine (ha!), Mr. Kendall stopped by on his bike, and while we were chatting a little Indian girl came up, showed me a pound coin and said, ‘Is this alright?’, to which I replied, ‘Of course it is. It’s more than most people give’, which I think might have embarrassed Mr. Kendall a bit, because he very rarely contributes and a minute later, just after he’d parked his bike against the wall, he came over and said, ‘I hope a pound’s alright’, before putting said pound in the bucket! He then went and had a glass of white wine (with ice) outside The Slug & Lettuce, where he remained for the whole hour.
As I was leaving and walking the bike past his table, we had a chat about our respective bikes, including how rubbish the brakes are on the old bikes. Mr. K relates his tale. He was once riding down the High Street and because the brake pads were wet, they didn’t work and he went through a red light. It reminded me of an incident years ago in Brockley, Sarf Landan, when I was going down a hill on a borrowed mountain bike, and because I was used to said rubbish brakes on the old bikes, where you have to slam both brakes on full, that’s what I did and the bike stopped dead! The front wheel stayed on the road while the rest of the bike, along with me, swung over the top. I remember lying on the road 10 feet in front of the bike and not one person stopped to help. Probably because there were a load of cars whizzing by. It should have all ended there, really.
Earnings: £36.76p (Including 1 CD)
Note: I went to the hospital to see the alleged painting of me. I found the corridor where all the paintings were but it wasn’t there, so I asked at the reception and just as I was asking, a woman walked by and said, ‘Oh yes, I remember that one. I used to walk by it all the time. It was sold’. So that was that. The Drongo was right all along. I’m going to have to try and track down the artist. A painting of a bearded Marvin B. Naylor: The Bearded Buttercross Busker.