Various Essays by Adi Cox

8/9/2019 Various Essays by Adi Cox

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A Guide To Busking According To Adi Cox

12th April 2015_____________________________________________________________________

Adi Cox at Leeds Trinity Shopping Centre !ngland"

There is a great sense o# #reedo$ to %e a%le to go %usking in so$any cities and to&ns at any ti$e that you like" There is no

inter'ie& and no licence needed to &ork the streets" There are $anypro%le$s encountered though" (ere in !ngland &e ha'e alot o# coldand &indy days and rain #all" )ust to clari#y*

!ngland is a part o# Britain" Britain is the island that isdi'ided into !ngland Scotland and +ales" Great Britain is Britainplus ,orthern -sland &hich is part o# the -sland next to the islandthat is Britain and all these places are part o# !urope" So - a$!nglish British and !uropean all at the sa$e ti$e %ut - digress"

So i# &e are lucky enough to %e going out %usking on a nice &eatherday then &e $ay encounter other %uskers plying #or a pitch to play"The %est place to set your pitch is in a $ediu$ si.ed to&n &ith apadestrian precinct co$$only kno&n as a pedestrian .one in othercountries" This is as opposed to those shopping centres/shopping$alls that are pri'ately o&ned and ha'e security" These shoppingcentres are usually indoors and ha'e $usic playing any&ay throughtheir o&n sound syste$ %ut so$eti$es these pri'ate shopping areasare outdoors and so not part o# the pu%lic do$ain and the right to%usk is #or the o&ners o# the site to decide" The security guardusually tells you to $o'e on %ecause you need &ritten per$issionto play here" -n so$e cases it $ay only %e a step a&ay %e#ore youare on pu%lic do$ain and so di##erent la&s then apply"


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The police are in charge o# the pu%lic do$ain and they only $o'e youon i# there are co$plaints a%out you and your playing" So$e %uskersuse a$pli#ication and can %e uite loud" - tend not to a$pli#y$ysel# &hen - a$ %usking" -t is #rustrating &hen other %uskers areso loud that you can hear the$ #i'e %locks a&ay %ecause they take upall that space and so you %eco$e li$ited to &here you can play"Bagpipes are loud they e'en tru$p the tru$pet #or 'olu$e %ut so$e o#these guitarists &ith a$pli#iers are the loudest"

arking is al&ays an issue" -t costs alot o# $oney to park your car"- tend to park a&ay #ro$ the to&n/city centre to &here it is #ree topark and then &alk in to the city centre" There is also a charge #orgoing to the toilet in so$e places" The local pu%lic li%rary isusually #ree to use their toilet #acilities"

A letter - recei'ed #ro$ a local neigh%ourhood &atch*

!'en i# you $anage to get a good pitch on a good &eather day andthere are $any pedestrians &alking past you as you play in $yexperience there is not $uch $oney to %e $ade" ,o& that $y %e%ecause - do not posess the #actor" - do posess the 3 #actor andthe 4 #actor though %ecause people &onder &hy - %other and then -send the$ to sleep &ith %oredo$" ,o - a$ oking - a$ uite goodat $y cra#t really6 * 7

At the ti$e o# &riting this the places that - ha'e %usked in are*

Barking Greater London",e& Street Bir$ingha$"iccadilly Gardens 8anchester"Altrincha$ Greater 8anchester"Sale Greater 8anchester"


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ilrig ark !din%urgh"9argate She##ield"The 8oor She##ield"Leeds"+ake#ield"Long :o& ,ottingha$"Clu$%er Street ,ottingha$"Arnold ,ottingha$"Beeston ,ottingha$";er%y"(ull"8accles#ield"(igh Street Lincoln"8ans#ield";oncaster":otherha$"Barnsley"Scunthorpe":et#ord"+orksop"

-lkeston"

The euip$ent that - use #or %usking*

8artin S$ith Acoustic guitar 8odel - usually only use the guitar a%o'e and sing &ithout a $ic %utso$eti$es - use the A a$p %elo& to a$pli#y $y singing7

Su% 4ero A?1 porta%le A syste$ #or ipod >- do not ha'e an - pod7

So$e o# the songs that - play are*

(ouse @# The :ising Sun+onder&allGolden Bro&nrincess @# The Street,o 8ore (eroes(anging AroundShould - Stay @r Should - goLondon CallingGuns @# Brixton!nglish Ci'il +ar(ersha$ Boys

(urry p (arry:at TrapLike Clock&orknocking @n (ea'ens ;oor,ights -n +hite Satin!'er 9allen -n Lo'eS$ells Like Teen Spirit;o&n -n A Tu%e Sation At 8idnightBoula'ard @# Broken ;rea$s9ore'er


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eople Are StrangeThe @ne - Lo'eeep @n :ocking -n The 9ree +orld+hite +eddingSound @# The Su%ur%s8onsterClass +ar >o&n original song7The 8inersDSong >o&n original song7


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What It Is To Be A Northerner? _____________________________________________________________________

Written by Adi Cox

6th April 2015

What it is to be a northerner? I am a midlander. I was born inLincoln and I now live in Nottinghamshire near mansfield, but mysensibilities are as a northerner. I live in an old pit town calledOllerton near sherwood forest. The heart of Ollerton was ripped outin the miners dispute. A community spirit has been changed forever.It is like we are excluded from the political table. I feelunrepresented in a Britain that is dominated by a london centricsouth.

At one time the north had a proud working tradition with thetrawlermen, miners, steel workers, engineering and ship builders.The new north has lost its industrious identity, which in turn hasgiven way to baseless less solid foundation of business andentrepreneurship. The new culture is led by the financial south eastwhich is a very dubious culture of quantitative easing (printingmoney) and many more corrupt practices which lay at the heart of

westminster and the politicians of our day who think it is okay tobe bought and payed for by big business in the form of lobbying andwho on a daily basis refuse to use any political will to addresssuch blatant and obvious malpractices that our corrupt system hasincorporated.

The upshot is that we have a financial system that is based on avery insecure foundation of debt. The political climate has movedfrom a traditional leftist working agenda championed by the north,through a capitalist system based on the foundations of wealth andthen finally where we are now: A very sick nation that is based ondebt. Like a drug addict that never gets them self clean, we are notdealing with the problem. Whilst we have corrupt self serving

politicians that are usually above the law and a press that has beencensored by a wealthy elite this sick nation will just carry on thisunhealthy path. The only way it can change is if there is a majorcatastrophic event to revolutionize and get our once proud nationback on track.

Adi Cox 6th April 2015


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Adi Cox Goes To Dublin30th April till 5th May 2015

_____________________________________________________________________

Not wantin to o out! " #nd $ysel% writin this be&ause it is a typi&al ban'

holiday wee'end! "t is (aturday 2nd May 2015 and the s'y is dar' rey! The

rain is %allin and blusterin around in the wind! There is a dispute and the

bus dri)ers in Dublin are on stri'e! At *a$ " was out playin $y uitar at Tara

train station here in Dublin! " was not so $u&h bus'in as #ndin a dry pla&e

to play $y uitar and sin without disturbin anyone at su&h an early hour in

the $ornin! " +ust need to 'eep the pra&ti&e up, otherwise " %eel in&o$plete i%

" do not play $y set o% sons that " ha)e $e$orised o)er the years!


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-esterday was $y #rst %ull day here in Dublin and it was blue s'y and

sunshine whi&h pro$pted $e to hi'e away %ro$ the hustle o% the bi &ity

&entre! " %ound $ysel% wanderin down by the Grand &anal and played $y set

there to a %ew passin +oers, &y&lists and do wal'ers and $aybe e)en a

%ew ri)er otters, who 'nows. " was lad to et a ood session sinin and

playin $y uitar be&ause the pre)ious day had been ta'en up tra)ellin

%ro$ /llerton in Nottinha$shire, nland! p to olyhead, North ales and

then on the %erry a&ross the "rish sea to Dublin, be%ore wal'in %ro$ the

%erryport to Dublin &ity &entre!


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" a$ stayin at Citi ostel! The ex&hane rate is ood! " a$ ettin about one

uro %orty to the 4ritish pound! "t is #%teen uros a niht and at #)e nihts

that &a$e to se)enty #)e uros! A hotel would be about se)enty #)e uros

+ust %or one niht so it is a hostel %or $e! " ha)e roo$ 305! There are #)ebun'beds in that roo$ and they are all ta'en, $ainly with youner $ales and

%e$ales who are tra)elers, but there are also people who are wor'in who are

stayin here! There is the Dart railway line next to the buildin! This line runs

alon the &oastal towns " a$ told! The sound o% trains enter into $y drea$s

as " a$ sleepin at niht! ast niht there were a roup o% ast uropeans

&elebratin loudly outside! A irl hal% awa'e as'ed 6ho is outside the door.6

(he then realised that the noise was &o$in %ro$ outside the buildin! e

$ade a +o'e o% her sleepy &on%usion and " &losed the window to $a'e the

sound o% the &elebration a little $u7ed! A%ter that " had a ood nihts sleep,

wa'in up at 05830! " had not heard a %ew late niht re)ellers turn in to bed in

our roo$! The hostel has a 'it&hen but it is not open until 09800! (o !!!

" went out to a &a%e %or what " would &all a %ull nlish brea'%ast, here in

"reland! This experien&e is what " would &all 6The "llusion /% Choi&e!6 "t oes

so$ethin li'e this8

6hat would you li'e on your brea'%ast.6 As'ed the ser)er!

6" would li'e: A sausae, ba&on, $ushroo$s, beans, to$atoes and an e

please!6 " said!


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6Tell the lady on the till that you ha)e six ite$s!6 The ser)er instru&ted $e!

6/'ay!6 " said understandin this straiht %orward instru&tion! (o " told the

lady on the till that " had ordered six brea'%ast ite$s!

6That will be se)en uros please!6 (he said, whi&h " duly paid! 6Tea or &o;ee.6

The lady on the till as'ed $e!

6No than' you!6 " said, de&linin the re6 (he said! This was news to $e!

" was eatin $y brea'%ast when the ser)er &a$e to $y table and handed $e

a plate with two toasts and two s$all pa&'s o% butter! 6Than'you )ery $u&h!6

" said wantin to be polite and thin'in, " did not as' %or that! Not wantin to

be unreat%ul or appear ar'ward, " ate the toast out o% politeness, in response

to the %ast and e?&ient ser)i&e that the sta; deli)ered under the riid

uidelines o% their e$ploy$ent! (o " was reat%ul %or that!

ritten by Adi Cox!


10/15

Self Promotion.

written by Adi Cox30th January 2015.

I have tried to promote myself in many different ways over theyears. First was to play guitar in a punk band. I would have been ayoung teen still at school. My friends and I formed a punk band.We were given little support at the time although Punk Rock was themusic of the time. This would have been the late 1970's.

In my early twenties I became a DJ. There was a distinct lack ofopportunities to play my guitar and so I took a chance of becoming aDJ with a mobile disco. Again it was self promotion. I became a selfemployed DJ. There was a market for Dj's because there were manypubs, clubs and social events that could use the services of amobile DJ. I got to know many other DJ's and became part of the DJculture in the city of Lincoln, England. This lasted for fifteenyears between 1986 and 2001.

Thirdly I decided to promote myself to do mathematics. This wasdaunting at first, to be in a maths class, but over the years andwith the support of the Open University I managed to pay for adegree in mathematics. I finished my degree in 2008 and soon after

the course fees went up five fold and so this avenue of selfpromotion in education became a closed door to me.

I am fifty years old this year (2015) and my new venture is to gobusking. I have spent about seven years improvising on my guitar,singing and uploading videos on the internet, mainly You Tube. forthe last year I have been getting a set together of about fiftysongs to sing along to and play on my acoustic guitar. It is Januarynow and very cold outside, but still I go out and play my guitar.All that remains for me to do is to hand my notice in, so that I cango out to promote myself by busking. I have saved some money overthe years on my minimum wage, care work job. So now I am ready to goout to try my luck busking in the city centres of the north and east

midlands of England. Let's see what this self promotion will bringme?

I have never wanted any promotion in my capacity as an employee but,if you feel that you are not getting anywhere, my advice is to notwait for those in charge to give you promotion, but to be more pro-active and imaginative. My successes are minimal, but they are myown and not by the appointment of someone else.


11/15

The Higher Ground

written by Adi Cox

12th April 2015

_____________________________________________________________________

It is a shame to see people who are ull o themsel!es or all the

wrong reasons" #eople generally li$e people who are happy" %e li$epeople to be happy and &elebrate their happiness with them when we

&an" To be proud' (o!ial and boastull are some great )ualities toli!e by i we &an share these eelings and gi!e others some

satisa&tion' en&ouragement to be who and how they want to be"

There are some lowly people who ha!e positions o power" %ith their

positions o power they ha!e be&ome &orrupt" Their beha!iour is(ustiied by the toleran&e and moderate beha!iour by those around

them*

+uality people who &ons&ien&iously $eep themsel!es in &he&$ &an openthe way or a wea$ and bullying boss to be tolerated" The problem is

when these wea$ and bullying bosses are obli!ious to their aults"

%e all ma$e mista$es and when we do we usually regret our mista$es

and hopeully &orre&t oursel!es" The &orruption o&&ures when twistedideas ta$e hold" Those traits that ma$e a strong boss does not

always ma$e a strong person" #ersonally people should &ome irstbeore intoleran&e' greed and selishness" Any so&iety that re!eres

those traits that sub(ugate people is twisted and morally ban$rupt"

,il$men used to deli!er mil$ to peoples houses early in the morning"#eople would wa$e up to pints o mil$ on their doorstep" The ,il$man

would &ome round on a -aturday to &olle&t the money that was owed"


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The mil$ that we used to get was whole mil$ and the &ream would rise

to the top o the bottle" It would be a treat to open a new bottle

o mil$ and put the &ream o the mil$ in a &oee" -ometimes wewould sha$e up the mil$ so that the &ream was e!enly distributed

amongst the mil$ or e!eryone" .The &ream will always rise to thetop". is a phrase oten &ited to (ustiy the status )uo" This is an

attempt to reassure people in a patroni/ing way that i you ha!e atalent or a )uality then you will naturally ind your (ust pla&e in

so&iety" %ell that all depends on the so&iety that you li!e in" The

mil$ that I drin$ now is semi s$immed so some o the at has been

ta$en out' as we are told that too mu&h at in your diet is bad oryou" This is what &ream is" It is de&ades sin&e I ha!e poured the

&ream o the top o the mil$ in my &oee and there are no mil$mannow" ,il$ is bought rom the shop with all the other ood items" -o

the &on&lusion is that the &ream does not always rise to the top and

in turn this means that not all so&ieties allow the best' brightest'

most talented and most deser!ing to rise to the top positions inthat so&iety" In some &ases it is only the s&um that will rise to

the top positions and I belie!e in ritain today that we really needto $eep this in &he&$"

#eople and power is an oxymoroni& &ombination be&ause power by its

nature is &orrupt and &reates struggles within so&iety' whereas

people are by nature usually a or&e or the good o others" ,y last

point &an easily be o!erloo$ed in a so&iety where its media hypesand sensationali/es e!erything that it &an in order to sell and to

ma$e money" The depths to whi&h the press will go to is astounding"It is easy to lose aith in people when the media &ir&us that

surrounds us is &onstantly bombarding us with the worst o human

nature" The world is ull o great people and to base your lie on

any other assumption will &onstri&t your lie"


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A Few Thoughts That I Will Share:

Changing Times

How much are we in charge of our own destiny? As a child in the1970's I used to play in the woods off Doddington road (B1190) inLincoln. There was also some gravel pits which had flooded into alake full of wild life. There was a stream that led to hartsholmepark and there used to be an airdrome still left over from thesecond world war. This was RAF skellingthorpe which is now theBirchwood estate. I was lucky enough to find myself happy here in asettled life with friends in peacetime.

RAF Skellingthorpe opened in 1941 on a field previously called BlackMoor. During the war the tally of bombers lost or failed to returnfrom Skellingthorpe reached 208: 15 Hampdens, six Manchesters and 187Lancasters. As a child I had very little knowledge about the past.The summer holidays from school would feel like I was foreverenjoying my freedom to explore and to play in the old air raidshelters that were still there. After the end of the Second WorldWar, RAF Skellingthorpe was the base for No. 58 Maintenance Unit RAF,with salvaged crashed aircraft stored at the base. The base finally

shut down in 1952.

Looking back in time from 2014 I see how this area has progressedfrom a field called Black Moor to an airdrome and then to an estatefor the housing of families hooked up to the internet. Spanning fromthe second world war through the cold war and then into this newphase of cyber security and government surveillance and austerity. Itreally does feel that technology is taking over our lives andincreasingly being used as a tool to govern people. A new era ofcivil rights has emerged and it is being fought on the internet.People like Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowdon arethe new leaders of civil rights activism.

The Only Smart Option

There does not seem to be many opportunities. Maybe we should begreatful for what we have or maybe we should rise up and protestabout our ever declining social situation here in England,Nottinghamshire to be more precise. I do not know what the situationis like in other areas of the UK. I live in a former pit town calledOllerton. I am a health care worker here in Ollerton and I am on theminimum wage which went up in October 2014 from £6.31 to £6.50 anhour. I am a rare person because I have not borrowed any money. Mostpeople usually borrow money some time in their lives for some reasonbut I have not had a mortgage or had any form of finance. I know

that to borrow money costs money. This just makes those with moneyricher while those borrowing have to work harder to pay off an extracost for the privilege to borrow money.

I do like to have an easy life and so I have very few obligations. Ihave no children. I do not take on responsibility if I have a choice.Does this make me irresponsible? I like to have my freedom and so Ilike nothing better than to go out with my acoustic guitar andhaving a good sing along to a few of my favorite tunes, which areoften old seventies punk songs. You may find me somewhere in North


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Nottinghamshire on top of a hill, by a river bank or under a disusedrailway bridge thrashing out some chords and chanting out an oldtune. I get a mixed response usually from people walking their dogs.Originally the idea was to go out and get away from everyone to playmy music alone but it soon became evident that no matter how far awayfrom people I tried to get there was always someone walking theirdog.

So this is what my life has become at the age of forty nine. Fiftyon the 28th of April next year 2015 to be more precise. Well I guessthat my life could be a lot worse and I do feel that I am mostlyokay with much of my life. This is through no small part of learningto accept the way things are because there is the small point thatmost people find themselves powerless to direct their lives and soto go along with the way that things turn out is the only smartoption.

The Unwanted Musician

In a world where there is free music and a build up over many years ofrecordings from the greatest artists and bands that have ever lived,it take an extraordinary recording to make people want to listen. Evenif such a recording exists it still takes a costly promotion to get

the recording out there and only then is there a chance of makingsales.

For many musicians it is a constant struggle just to be able to makemusic and any commercial success is not realistically sort after.Because of work commitments and most of all because no one reallyneeds another musician, musicians tend to be side lined. Other household members do not want to hear your music ever again and thoseneighbors hate that music that you make with a passion because theywork nights and your music is the reason that they lack sleep.

There are a lot of unemployed musicians out there determined to dotheir musical thing come what may. The world conspires against them.

Their pleasure to make music is only matched by the scorn of thosearound them who have to suffer for your art and so I find myself deepin the countryside with my acoustic guitar avoiding people trying tosing and play to myself like an autistic social outcast whoinadvertently comes across a cautious dog owner walking their dogconcerned that someone may have escaped their detention and tryingto evaluate whether I am dangerous.

Are Religious People Mentally Ill?

Can we make a case for religious ideas to be proof that someone ismentally ill? Surely anyone who believes in miracles and any sort of

supernatural has flawed reasoning and a desperate disposition andthat needs to be addressed in the DSM.

I find it unbelievable that many high level politicians and prominentpeople can spout off their own incredible ideas just because thoseideas are based on christian faith. Surely the very idea that anyonewho needs religion who is in a powerful position is proof that theyare not fit for the job that they do.

Many world leaders are these crazy religious types who have gone


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to war on dubious grounds. When we think about weapons of massdestruction in Iraq and their lack of evidence. When we think aboutthe war on terror and how ridiculous a war on terror is. We tend tothink of people like George W Bush and Tony Blair who aredecidedly committed to their religious ideas.

When the crazy people run the asylum then we get serioussituations that need to be addressed and usually the only way thatthis scenario plays out is through disastrous consequences.When these things are played out on the world stage then there isonly war.

When world leaders make crazy decisions they are the last peopleto suffer for their warped religious beliefs. If we value our worldsurely we should base our politics on sound reasoning. We have aduty for the sake of this world to deny these people their place on aworld stage.

Governed By Corruption

Anarchists show that there is a deep discontent and disquiet amongstthe people. Politicians really need to work with people and not withcorporations because like it or not anarchists are questioning

governments and the establishment. More and more people are becomingdissatisfied with the way that government and society is going.Corruption and privileges for the few people who can buy politicalpower. Corporations own our politicians and this is an outrage.

It is considered to be utopian and out of touch with reality to be ananarchist, a socialist, or anyone else who stands up for the underprivileged in our society and this is why it is important to get backto a more utopian direction because reality the way it is now blightsthe lives of the many disadvantaged to enhance the privileged few whohave dubious self serving intentions and who continue to protectcorporate interests.

It is really annoying the way that people are treated by theirleaders with the exception of a very small number. With the rise ofcapitalism the poor are demonized whilst the privileged few becomeever more corrupt. It is astounding how much people in power get awaywith but I really believe that this is starting to change. The warcriminals, expenses cheats, self serving and bias corporate agentsare being exposed for who they really are and it is to our benefitthat we scrutinize and hound these people out of existence.

Adi Cox 2014

Documents

Various Essays by Adi Cox