I heard that Orillia's Downtown Management Board forbids busking without an audition. I know a guy who used to go to my high school, who regularly sat down near a parking lot downtown, and he never had any problems. He always asked the businesses for permission to play, and it was always granted. He has since graduated with a Music Degree from York, and is making waves on the jazz scene.

I really don't see why beaurocrats have a problem with busking (some of them, anyway,) - as a consumer, I like to hear people playing when I'm walking down the street. It is a pleasant summer experience. Kids who are learning often have a more appreciative audience than more seasoned performers, too, and it's a good way for them to get spending money, or money to go to camps and stuff.

But this is the same town where city council strangled ice cream trucks and hot dog vendors by making the taxes prohibitively high, all so that a relative of the (then) Mayor could have a monopoly on the food at our biggest local park.

Banning busking isn't about the music, or about the "quality" of the music, it's about control.

If things are too controlled, where's the life in it?

Where are the opportunities for young people to learn to have fun performing in public?

Anyway, since I just put a down payment on a flute, I'll probably need to take my panflute downtown to get enough money for the flute... we will see what happens a couple of weeks from now, when I have some stuff to play.