Keith in Laguna Beach -- Friday, 29Aug2015

I took aim at 6:30 last night, but there was an accident on Laguna Canyon Road, so after some difficulty parking, I got to the empty corner at 7:15. One of the homeless kids warned me that the cops were giving out tickets today, and apparently expected me to just go home. But I'm not breaking any laws, so I stayed.

Nobody else was down there, but the Flower Kids arrived and set up their workshop on the bench. I requested that they leave some room for the tourists to sit and eat their ice cream, which they readily agreed to, but didn't take to heart, much.

Not a lot of people out on a Friday, though. I got a few friendly groups, and a pretty big Kid Party when I snagged them with "Let It Go", and one little "four and a half" girl who stayed for a dozen songs, practicing her ballet moves.

I was in the middle of "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" when a middle-aged Asian woman came up, singing. She climbed up next to me so she could see the words, and held onto my arm to get in close. Apparently she wanted to share my head mic, but since I'm 6'-5" in my boots, and she was probably all of 5'-5", there wasn't much chance of that -- I can only lean over so far and keep playing the guitar... She sang along an octave higher than me in her church-lady soprano, but then took off just before the end of the song. Strange.

Around 8:30, guitar-scourge Sanchez hustled through, without his guitar, and took several pictures of my sign. Clearly a portent of trouble to come...

And so, at 9:00, as predicted, I was, like Scrooge, visited by three cops, two Beach Patrollers in their polo shorts, and a motorcycle cop who introduced himself as Darren, who did all the talking. He claimed that he'd gotten complaints about the "noise. And when I say 'noise', I don't really mean that, 'cuz I like your music". He said that the complaints were from "a local business". I expressed disbelief, and pointed out that the owner of the ice cream store loves me, and I was way too quiet to be bothering the Fingerhut ladies across the street. He said that he couldn't reveal who had lodged the complaint, and I said, "Of course not" (since it was obviously Sanchez, and not a "business" at all).

He went on to say that I wasn't supposed to have an amp, which I told him wasn't exactly true, and offered to show him the city statute on my iPad, but he declined since he wasn't really gonna ticket or stop me anyway. Apparently, he just needed me to agree to turn it down.

My new buddy Darren also secondarily warned me about complaints of illegal "vending". I pointed out that my sign says "Suggested donation" under the "$5", and he said "That’s just how you’re getting around it", to which I just shrugged, 'cuz, yes, exactly. But is it illegal..?

But to legitimize if it's a "sale" or not, he asked if I chase down people who don’t pay. I told him that I never even look -- they can deposit the money, or not, and just take a CD. Indeed, I sometimes give them away to people who profess a desire for one but a lack of cash on hand. Darren was apparently satisfied by all this, and finally wandered off to chat with his Beach Patrol friends.

(The funny part was that, although I had brought out the CD-holding racks, I'd forgotten to put any CDs on them, so, technically (and accidentally), I wasn't selling any CDs tonight, anyway.)

This second issue was also obviously inspired by Sanchez, who sells his CDs (for $10), but apparently isn't using the "donation" trick on his sign. His getting busted has made him even grumpier, and vindictive.

Anyway, I just stood there and waited for the cops to leave. I didn't want to test Darren's sound level limit, and he couldn't really just ask me to play. I suspect that they were also happy to use the opportunity to intimidate the Flower Kids a bit. And apparently, there's no law against standing on a street corner holding a guitar. After 20 minutes or so, they all finally left.

I did turn down, a lot, but since there was nobody to play for -- whatever. Except a guy came by with his two young teen sons. He sat and listened for quite a while. I thought that he was just stuck there, waiting for the wife or something, but I finally went over and offered him a song list. He said that "Everything you play is great", and told me that he drives down from Pasadena, just to listen to me. Really?!? But he knew that I'm usually there on Saturdays, and he can't be just hanging around South County after work, 'cuz he has his kids with him. Hard to believe, but incredibly flattering.

Anyway, it was a pretty slow night, partially because of summer winding down, and, I think, partially due to the chilling effect of the Flower Kids. Either way, I think Fridays are done until next summer. I did sell one CD to an older foreign lady who apparently figured out from the sign that there were CDs somewhere, and had her daughter translate her request for one. Nice of her to want one bad enough to go to the trouble...