The winter goes on!

I can't remember when I last saw so much snow as we got this winter in Boston. Luckily, we have the T here and I've been busy entertaining the commuters, mostly down below in the Red Line, at Porter Square, Harvard Square, Central Square, Park Street, Downtown Crossing and South Station. It's first come first serve for busking spots in the T and the busiest stations are usually occupied by other buskers unless you get there early. Still I've managed to keep myself afloat with my new mini Peace Wave Generator. Last weekend was actually warm enough that I could play in the Public Gardens all day.
I was getting warmed up for my audition for America's Got Talent last Sunday.
The audition went well. My niece, Rebecca, came along to act as my assistant and moral support. I could tell that the judge was impressed. He told me that he's been judging auditions for the show for nine years and he's never seen an act quite like mine. That, he assured me is quite hard to do. Still it's not clear if they will choose my act for their live show. That is up to one of their LA producers. I'm hoping to hear back from them in the next week or so, so keep your fingers crossed for us on that one.

I also managed a quick escape from winter this year with a ten day trip to Puerto Rico. I brought my mini Peace Wave Generator along. When there was a busking festival taking place in the street right below my hostel I decided to join in.  The people loved my show and I was doing really well when the police decided to put an end to the fun. It's a bit of a mystery to me why police feel that have to stop something which people are really enjoying but there's not much I could do about it. But I did get to play for a bit more than an hour though and I proved once again that I can travel easily enough with my new mini Peace Wave Generator and attract a joyful crowd with it. I'm already starting to figure out when I can get back to Europe to play once again.

Ramblin' Dan and the Professor World Band playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico just before getting stopped by the police.

A couple of new links to the Professor World Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uSm0dFz_5g


http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/back_bay/2013/11/a_one-man_band_that_keeps_on_going.html

30 Years professor World Band still spreading joy!

Even the weather cooperated this past Sunday. It was a bit cloudy but warm. It didn't start to drizzle until later when the party was over.  The same thing happened in Bern 10 years ago for Professor World Band's 20'th birthday party.  Surely a sign that we should keep going at least another 10 years.
Thanks to all my friend, family and fans who made it down to help me celebrate the occasion. And thanks for all the fine chocolate y'all brought me.

My trip to San Diego was also a blast. The mini Peace Wave Generator I'm working on travels easily by plane and train and bus and sets up really quickly on arrival.  I played on the Ocean Beach farmer's market and also in Balboa park. I also played for the special needs kids that my niece is working with.  The mini not be quite as sensational as the bigger version but in some situations it may work as well or even better. So I'm planning more future travel with it this winter.
I also spent a lot of time practicing ukelele and cruising the beaches with my nieces dog. Ocean Beach is real dog haven. It seems everybody has at least one and some have 2 or 3.
And of course the weather was warm and sunny every day.

30 Years Professor World Celebration!

 Here I am playing at the Seaport Convention Center

 I've got Pumpkins 4 Peace and Skeletons Against War demonstrating with me for a while

The new mini peace wave generator

Greetings Professor World Fans! I'd like to invite you all to Professor World's 30'th birthday celebration  on Sunday November 17th in the Boston Public Gardens; most likely at my favorite spot there near the corner of Arlington and Boylston Street. Since Professor World made his first appearance in New Haven Connecticut on the day of my 30'th birthday, I will also be celebrating 60 years on the planet! I will be setting up some tables and I'll organize a Professor World Peace Wave Cake and drinks and treats. You are welcome to bring something to share if you like but most important is just show up and wish us well. ( Don't forget that I do love chocolate!) We'll sing Happy Birthday, blow out the candles and cut the cake about 2:00. I'm hoping for nice weather and sunshine but dress warm! In case of really inclement weather we will meet at the Bolocos on Charles and Boylston. A big thanks to Bolocos for offering also to supply some coffee and tea and snack age! I usually have my morning coffee there whenever I play in the Public Gardens because the people working there are all so friendly and they let me practice my awful Spanish on them.

It's been a really good fall thus far for the Professor World Band. The weather has been pretty good on weekends and it's lots easier to play when it's cooler. I had an awesome day yesterday in the Gardens because the pumpkin fest was going on on the Commons which brought hundreds and hundreds of kids in their Halloween costumes. A big thank you to whoever it was that dropped the $100 bill in my bucket! That doesn't happen very often and it sure is appreciated. Thanks as well to all who have contributed smiles and laughter and words of encouragement.

I've been working on a new "mini" Professor World Band Peace Wave Generator to do some traveling with in my 60'th year. I'll be playing drums and xylophone and ukelele and harmonica all at the same time. It's probably not quite as spectacular as my full size machine but it's a lot easier to transport and quicker to set up and break down and lots of fun to play. I will upload a beginning photo of it here but it is still in developmental phase. I'm really enjoying learning the ukelele. Next week I'll be flying to SanDiego with the new set-up to test out how it feels to travel with it. I'll be back just in time for my birthday celebration. I've been playing with it a few times now in Harvard and Porter Square and it seems to work quite well although it doesn't draw as much attention as the big machine. I'm still getting better at it and improving rapidly.

I'm posting another photo from a gig I did recently at the Seaport Convention Center for a medical research company. They wanted a baseball theme so I played in front of a fake Fenway park scoreboard and sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame. It was a bit of a fiasco because they had an Aerosmith cover band at one end of the hall and Oriental drummers with huge megadrums on the other. I was in the middles next to the brass band. So since I was getting paid to do it, I turned up the volume and blasted out my tunes. People did seem to enjoy it though despite the noise level.

I'm hoping for a mild winter so that I can go on playing my big one man band in the Public Gardens. I'm pretty hardcore so I'll be out there unless it's way below freezing and snowing. I do appreciate any indoor gigs I can get in winter though so keep me in mind for special occasions and give my card and website to teachers and tell them about my show. Some school gigs would be really nice. Kids love my show and find it very inspiring. Also when the weather is miserable it is nice to have the option to play in the T here in Boston with my smaller set-up.

Enough said for now. I hope to see you all at Professor World's 30'th birthday celebration!

Here's a recent link a friend sent to the PWB                                  http://artery.wbur.org/2013/10/18/portraits-of-boston-peace-through-street-music

Summertime!

Wow, has it really been two months since my last blog? It feels like the hottest days of summer are over and it'll soon be cooling off. At least I wont be sweating so much when I'm performing. Playing one man band in a heat wave is pretty exhausting work sometimes!  It's been a really fun season for me and the Professor World Band though. I've come up with some great new additions to the Peace wave Generator and things continue to evolve. I've been getting large and enthusiastic crowds all summer in Harvard Square and especially the Public Gardens, where I continue to play on weekends. It still seem to me that the more I play the more fun it is and it's been almost 30 years now since I first created the Professor World Band!

I just played at the last day of summer camp celebration for a local camp. I guess that means that school will soon be starting and the tourist season in Boston will be really slowing down. I usually continue to play up until Christmas and New Year if the weather is not too severe though.  There's still plenty of people around in the Public Gardens to play for. In January and February it's often too cold and I will probably make a new show that I can perform in the T.

 I will be trying to line up some gigs as well so that I can continue with the Professor World Band all through the year. I would love to do more schools and private parties. Please feel free to give a copy of my post card to teachers and tell them about my show.  It often inspires children to make music and create crazy music machines of their own! I can supply plenty of references from schools that I have played for all over the world.

Thanks to everyone for your continued donations which keep me going and your positive and constructive feedback which is just as important to me. Special thanks to those who have sent me photos and also to those who have given me chocolate! I'll continue to keep you posted on what's going on with the Professor World Band.

End of summer camp celebration in Cambridge with the Professor World Band!

1. 

Why Chocolate?

Here's one of my favorite songs for one of my favorite treats. And it's a true story. I traveled all over the world for 30 years looking for the world's most delicious chocolate ; and the search still goes on today.
(see video below in last post)

Another true chocolate story;

 I always play with an "I Love Chocolate " sign in my case. One day, while playing on a street corner in the old town of Zurich,  a beautiful Swiss Miss came up and tipped me a very tasty fair trade dark chocolate bar. On the wrapper she had left me her email address. Naturally I wrote her to say thank you and we ended up getting together, falling madly in love and traveling all over the world together for seven years. That's another reason that I love chocolate! Who knows? Perhaps it will happen again someday!