On the Town

So this weekend AZ was away on business, and I took some of the time to myself to actually get out of the house for a bit, hook up with friends, music and movies.

Far superior to moping around the house, wondering if AZ will call or not....

So Saturday afternoon I went downtown with our friend Vinod to the MCA (Andreas Gursky exhibition) and to a bit of the World Music Festival. On my way there I saw a creative busker:

This was in the little Water Tower park (which in the building itself has a nice photography exhibition). The busker - he's the one painted in silver - was standing on a set of three unattached milk crates. In front of him is a mat apparently used for breakdancing, and in front of that a large tub for people to put money in.

But here's the beauty part. I never saw him do more than shuffle the crates over (which was itself quite dextrous, as he shuffled detached crates across pavement without falling) to the tub, examine what he dramatically perceived to be less money than his performace was worth, and shuflle the boxes back to the position he started in. In between people would occassionally to some cheering put money into the tub. I came back after the museum, no change - still working the crowd brilliantly.

In the front of this photo is the secret beneficiary of the crowds largesse, an actually homeless (or perhaps residentially housed at the nearby YMCA) person, who got several sideline donations rather than the performer.

Later that day I took the below photo of the Carbide and Carbon building:

It's currently being renovated to become a Hard Rock Hotel. So it goes here in the big city...

And finally, a shot from Sunday evening's sunset over our neighborhood L stop as I headed off to see the vistas of Lawrence of Arabia.

Posted by esinclai at September 24, 2002 10:07 PM |