Weekend Surprises

Street entertainment is a common occurrence in cities but for me coming from the suburbs the street acts up and down 'Boulevard' are a constant source of wonder.  I can walk a few blocks from my front door and come across free entertainment just presenting itself for my enjoyment.  Here is a short description of a few sights I have come across.

First is the classic human statue.  They will do a little something for you if you pay them just a few cents.  I made the guy below dance for €.15, that is, less than a quarter.  I would have paid him more if I could have hired him to follow me around and chase random people on the street.

If only Ripley had known Spanish

I have only seen the alien one time since arriving here, and that was during a Halloween celebration.  Of course, accordingly with Spanish Logic, the Halloween party was held on November 5th, close enough right?  One popular statue person here is a woman that looks kind of like the Statue of Liberty.  She's out every weekend, posing for pictures, and giving little waves, and doing other things that statues aren't supposed to do.  She is probably doing not bad, her only competition is Mr. Poseidon, and from what I've seen he never passed statue school.  The Ruler of the Seas is out on the bridge some weekends, a solid location with a healthy amount of foot traffic.  I pass him going to and coming from the beach, and 90% of the times I've seen him he has been smoking a cigarette (as far as I know they're cigarettes).  After all that time smoking he needs a break once and a while, so the remaining 10% of his time is spent taking a lunch break.  Mr. Poseidon man could take a lesson or two from the Statue of Liberty.

Men and women frozen in place are not the only attractions trying to earn loose change.  There are a number a bands and musicians that jockey for location in an effort to draw large crowds.  Coming from the suburbs street music is a nice change of pace for me, but there are no instruments that I would call 'Traditional Spanish.'  There are some violinists, drum bands, trumpeters, and that one guy who owns an accordion for some reason.  I've heard great accordion players in my life, I define great accordion is anything that doesn't make my ears bleed, and I can say that this guy either had a horrible selection in music, or he just doesn't give a crap.  But he is a confident old guy, and I admire his singing of nonsense words, daring the world not to put a few Euros in his hat.  Drum bands have the largest crowds because they are the loudest.  Sort of how political talk shows and radio stations works, whoever screams the most is the winner.  If you're thinking that I said the same thing about how little kids think, you are right, and I stand by that, they are all the same.  But despite the drum bands having the most clout I like to linger around the string instruments.  These are usually composed of one or two people playing with background music set by a tape player.  They do not inhabit the main streets or bridges, but rather park benches and book stores.  I can not help but stop and listen and remember when Leonardo Di Caprio sacrificed himself to save that red headed girl who's name I can never care to remember.  Spoiler alert the ship is not really unsinkable.

Last but certainly not least are the uncatorizable surprises that pop up out of no where.  I enjoy them because I'm a twisted human being.  If I lacked a sense of humor I might find something inappropriate about the picture below.

"Trust me guys, he's scarier without pants."

I just want to know who authorized it.  I admit, it is terrifying, but not for the right reasons.  Who decides that a pantless vampire is somehow better than a fully dressed one?  There is a part of me that wanted to ride through his legs.  I just want to know who allowed the creation of this monster, I mean it entertained me, but I think it was for the wrong reasons.  The girl in the photo is of no relation to me, a man near by was giving me strange looks because I looked like I was taking a creeper photo of his little girl.  He apparently understands that sometimes the giant inflatable vampires are just too tired to put on pants in the morning so could not understand why I would take a picture of this beautiful weekend surprise.