As some of you know, I've been very busy lately, helping my mother and step-father move here from South Texas. LOTS of stuff do to that takes lots of time.
Anyway, tonight, I suppose because I've been distracted from taking care of business, I did something I've never done before.
I drove all the way to Longview, TX for a job, only to find out I was a week early.
I had failed to check my calendar but relied on memory.
Bad, huh?
Well, not so bad. I got there and the band that was scheduled for tonight had cancelled at the last minute. You got it, I got to work anyway!
Only bad thing was the 4-piece band that cancelled was booked for $50. less than I charge, so I played for their price.
. . . and I was glad to get it!
DonM

Good you didn't drive all that way (I assume it was quite a drive, anyway ) for nothing. Although... Was the 4-piece band booked for 50 bucks? For how long? Is this a normal "fee" for live music over there? (If it is, you really should pack your bags and head to my country :-)



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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

sounds like a gig from the blues brothers???

"The band gets $50, but you owe me $300 for all the beer you drank!!"

Was there any chicken wire??

I sure wish you boys and girls would learn to read, write and spell. Don said the job paid $50 LESS THAN HE NORMALLY CHARGES!--NOT $50. Most of us in this biz would not load the equipment for $50.

Cheers,

Gary

DonM,

Sounds a very nice story. I am very curious about the reaction of the owners at the beginning when you came a week early, and then their reaction after the band cancelled at the last minute, and then their reaction after you took and finished your performance.

A kind of "same thing only different" thing happened to me once years ago.

The club owner had mistakenly thought he had a different band booked on a night when my band was booked.
The band he "thought" he had booked was not really very good in his opinion (why he booked them I don't know) and he was telling all his customers for the previous few days that they were not very good.

When my band and I walked in that night with our equipment his jaw dropped. He asked what the heck we were doing there and I replied that he had us booked and to check his calander. He did, and sure enough there we were scheduled to play that night.

He apologised over and over again as he told me about his mistake and the fact about what he had been telling all of his customers.

He apologised ahead of time for the bad night crowd-wise he was now expecting...I just figured oh well...nothing I could do about it, and asked for an ameretto on the rocks. He goes behind the bar and half fills a huge pitcher with ice then empties a full bottle of amerreto into it and hands it to me saying. "here ya go, on me, hope you can still enjoy the evening."

As it turned we had a few stragglers come in who stayed the night and partied with us.
It was one goofy night I'll never forget. And yes the amerretto helped as the crowd that did show up appeared "doubled" in size. just kidding.

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The old Newb

One might take into consideration that for many on this forum, English is a second language.
Terry



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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Yes it was for "$50 less than my price", which was still way more than $50 total!
The customers and manager did appreciate the fact that I was there!
Don

Forgive me, but I think I can read English quite well. There is a period after the $50. So if I cut up the lines the way he wrote them, it says:

the 4-piece band that cancelled was booked for $50.
less than I charge, so I played for their price.

So if he meant something else, he should have written it like this:
" the 4-piece band that cancelled was booked for $50 less than I charge, so I played for their price."

So who needs to learn how to read and write here? :-)

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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

I understood Don's original post as he meant it, however, I have to agree with Burkels.

Gramatically he is correct in reading it the way that he did, but then the period could be said as to differentiate between dollars and cents as in $50.00. And so the arguement could continue.......

But I am staying out of it from here on in...lol



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The old Newb

No, it won't continue. The only thing I can answer to your remark is that it should have been $50.- in that case. :-)

By the way, we write $50.- as $50,-
Maybe that caused the "argument" here. I never assumed the '.' to be a decimal point.
We use the decimal comma, not the period. We use the period in thousands (i.e. $5.000,-) where you would write $5,000.- Confusing? Nah. You get used to it :-) )


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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

"One might take into consideration that for many on this forum, English is a second language."

Yes Terry, I noticed that a long time ago. And, I applaud those from other nations that have mastered the English lauguage, which is among the world's most complex. In fact, the vast majority of the forum members from locations other than the U.S. seem to have mastered the language better than many people residing here. (Typo corrected)

Burkels, there was mention of the word English in my statement. If this were the case, I would have clearly stated "English." And, depending on which gramar book you're using, $50 or $50. are both gramatically correct when the period is not followed by a capitalized word, which is the case here "...booked for $50. less than I charge..." If you took offense to this, I am truely sorry and apologize.

Cheers,

Gary

[This message has been edited by travlin'easy (edited 03-07-2004).]

Let's not make a big deal out of this :-) I was not offended, I merely wanted to clarify why I read it the way I read it. DonM got a gig, and even got paid to do it. Let's drink to that :-)

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Roland EXR-5 user - http://www.exr5.tk

I'll drink to that!

Gary

Cheers!!

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The old Newb

I should have been more careful in expressing the figure. It correctly should have been $50.00
I left the period off that sentence purposely.
It's amazing to me the facility with which many of you from different countries have with the "American" language. It is confusing and difficult to master. I have a degree in Journalism and still make a lot of mistakes, particularly when I get in a hurry to relate my latest misteakes.
DonM
.
.
I misspelled mistakes on purpose too.
Did I misspell mispell?

"I sure wish you boys and girls would learn to read, write and spell."

seem to have matered the language
on which gramar book you're using

Gary.... Glass houses eh?
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

I learnt by using hukked on fonicks.

"American" language - nice one. I'm English and I wouldn't mind at all if the language Americans speak was referred to as American :-)

My wife is Dutch and knows the rules of the English language far better than I do. I don't think I was ever taught the rules, people just spoke English around me and it sank in by osmosis. She'll correct the kids with something like "no, when it's ending in an 'e' it's always 'ley' in the first person singular" - and I sit there and think about it for a while and I reach the same conclusion but with no idea that there's a hard fast rule for getting there. My wife worked for a dentist when we lived in California and all the staff (all Americans...) would come to her if they needed something writing correctly in English.

I think it's because "foreigners" who learn English learn it purely and un-adulterated without the influence of slang and regional dialects or accents which American, English and Australians have to deal with... At least half of England cannot understand what the whole of Scotland is talking about.

FWIW - I also thought it was "$50 (which is) less than I usually earn."

Jeremy



[This message has been edited by jeremy_norbury (edited 03-08-2004).]

I still have trouble with the Cajun language! It will be a while before I try to tackle the English one!

ROFL
Very very true, although I am sure most Scotsmen say the same about us English!
Best wishes
Tony

[This message has been edited by Tony W (edited 03-08-2004).]

Tony,
___________________________________________
Very very true, although I am sure most Scotsmen say the same about us English!
Best wishes
Tony
___________________________________________

Yeah the difference is they're wrong though.


Now before our Scottish contingent sends me hate mail.....just kiddin' ya'. Everyone knows, it's the French that the rest of the world cannot get a grasp on and understand at all.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html