Eric Mead, the well-known  magican (well-known within magic circles anyway) thinks there’s a different lesson to be learned… and I agree.

I first heard Un-1 (Mark Stokes) a free-style rapper and Van City busker a couple of years ago when I was strolling around Granville Street with my boy. He was so good that I went around the block and came back to hear him again.

He’s loud and charming and engaging and exactly the kind of performer that would get under the skin of anybody looking for ‘trouble-makers’.

I don’t know the details, but it looks like Un-1 started free-styling the wrong police officer and as you can hear in this Voicemail to Mark, they closed him down. Please have a look at this and decide if you think he needs and deserves your support.

I think he does.

Of course he’s a ‘trouble-maker’. He’s an artist. I hope I’ll be good enough to be a ‘trouble-maker’ one day.

“A group for those interested in Busking on Granville Street and contributing to an interesting and dynamic atmosphere. This group is a place where you can come to discuss busking, learn more about Granville, ask questions, and find resources. You may use this place to post gig opportunities for buskers, but unfortunately it is not meant for promotion of events or perfomances unrelated to Granville Street busking.”

Check it out if it interests you.

A century ago, spirit photography was all the rage, tantalising the public imagination with what purported to be hard evidence of wispy apparitions. However, its resurgence may have less to do with the paranormal than with the increasing use of social media and cameraphones.

Cool.

But I had a kid almost three years ago and my life became a cliche machine.
And a couple of days ago the mother of my child and I experienced the birth of our second child at home.

Guess what?

It was amazing: Tears, laughter, screaming. Love, fear, the circle of life.

Yup. Cliche Central around my house.

They’ve just posted a lovely trailer of sorts that highlights the people they’ve met and the places they’ve visited over the last year or so.

Enjoy.

ps… yes, I will be pilfering their other videos to bolster my post count.

This Happens Every Day from The Busking Project on Vimeo.

That could only mean one thing: Eden Cheung was performing somewhere nearby.

I’ve known Eden for a few years now, the first encounter was one where he attempted an ESP experiment on me for real. At least, I hope it was for real because it didn’t go well. We had mutual friends and when Wes Barker and I were performing together we ran into him quite often performing his Cups and Balls act. It was pretty good… a lot of Gazzo in style and content with a few original bits and a couple of standard tricks.

Then, late this summer, my buddy Travis returned from his fringe tour and asked me if I had seen Eden lately. I hadn’t. Travis saw Eden several times while they were both touring around and Trav was blown away with how Eden’s show had progressed. Somehow, over the last eight or so months, Eden had ‘found it’ and I had to see him. I was skeptical.

Hec and I arrived to a full-sized crowd, and two or three video cameras trained on Eden as he started his show. Travis was right. It was great. There was still that cocky Gazzo swagger but it was all Eden. All his bits were artfully put together, so many clever touches– even more clever if one knew about the psychology of audience management and busking. I’m glad there was a camera crew there to capture it. Travis was right. He was great.

Of course now you want to grab your coat and catch this act. And yes, you can often catch Eden on Granville Island, however, at the moment he’s performing in New Zealand and we’ll have to wait ’til he gets back.

Oh, interestingly, the camera crew that day was from The Busking Project, here’s the link.

There’s a new article that explains how, just walking through a door can make us forget.