change your reality

Bucketman Update #2

A lot of things have happened since the last time I wrote about Larry “The Bucketman” Hunt. The myspace page we put up for Larry and his music, had its first success story. Apparently, Larry mentioned that someone from the Jason Roberts Cook Show (a cable program on television) came across the website or blog and offered Larry a gig as a guest star entertainer on the show! This included a free flight to Cleveland where the shooting took place and a fully catered hotel stay for the duration of the shoot, plus a payment of 1500$.

Which brings me to another point that was raised by one commentator of my original blog post about Larry. Here’s the comment I’m referring to, with the title “Really?”:

Really? You thought that somebody trying to earn money on the street needs a website? Give him some money. Why is it acceptable to say that in a city with so many web developers he should have a website but not to say in a city with SO MUCH MONEY he should have some money?

First of all to generalize someone out of his individuality by making him just “somebody trying to earn money on the street”, is not only undignified, but also erases Larry’s particular situation. Larry is not just “somebody trying to earn money on the street”, he’s a talented musician and entertainer [1], and in the times we’re living, having a website is essential for a variety of reasons. It keeps you in touch with your fans, makes it easy for people to find you, enables you to sell your music online with literally no cost, and provides unexpected professional opportunities as the Jason Roberts case showed - which, as it was demonstrated, culminated in 1500$. Not bad, for a website it took me a couple of hours to build and cost no money. So in response to this comment I reply: Yes. I do think that a talented musician like Larry “The Bucketman” Hunt needs a website. It’s a vehicle for him to put out something that’s valuable (his music) and give people the chance to reward him for it, and allow him to continue doing it. To me it’s like that Chinese proverb which says: “Give someone a fish and you feed him for one day, teach him how to fish and he can feed on his own for a lifetime.” I’d rather help someone make his own money than give him some cash and walk away. That way he earns the self-respect that comes from being self-sufficient. I even met him a couple of days ago to ask him about the importance of money and the website and here’s what he had to say:

As for the second part of the comment,

Why is it acceptable to say that in a city with so many web developers he should have a website but not to say in a city with SO MUCH MONEY he should have some money?

I don’t see why being in a city that has lots of money automatically entitles you to any of it just because you’re physically in it. Sure, when there’s a lot of something going around, be it money or whatnot, it is good if it’s shared with people that need it. But I don’t think San Francisco has such a bad reputation when it comes to sharing and helping people that it warrants that comment. In fact, it has a solid reputation for the opposite. Also, if you read my original blog you’ll see that the word “should” is not present in it even once. I don’t like forcing people with guilt-trips to do what’s right. In fact, I think such an approach can be counter-productive. Give people an opportunity to be good by doing something constructive and they might surprise you. For example, look at the success of Wikipedia. Nobody paid them.
By the way, there is a PayPal donate button on the original blog post for people to donate money. Nobody has donated any - not even the person who made the comment. But people did volunteer to help in building the website. It gives you a little hint about the merits of the two approaches: Giving people the opportunity to help in constructive ways vs. asking them for money. In the former case they can actively participate, in the latter they are just passive contributors. It doesn’t touch people the same way.

Some additional news:

Larry “The Bucketman” Hunt, appeared in First Sunday.

He also got a job as a teacher of drums at the Miraloma Elementary School (175 Omar Way) every other Friday under the San Francisco Arts Education Program I think that’s a great job for him since children are especially captivated by his music and personality:

On the 23rd of September, he’s going to be appearing on a show about street musicians on channel 11 in CA.

In closing, here’s a video of him playing with his drumsticks on fire on Geary & Powell a couple of days ago:

Notes:

[1] Incidentally, the adjective “entertainer” is not my addition. Larry himself insists on the role of entertainer in addition to that of musician. He doesn’t believe the adjective as denoting something that an artist ought to look down on. He likes entertaining people and he thinks in order for you to be able to do that, you need to put *more* of yourself in your performance rather than less. Which is a view worth thinking about given that it comes in direct opposition with what most artists think, when they think of art as “entertainment”.