What do Swing DJs do in the day/to earn a living?
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- Shanabanana
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- Bob the Builder
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1. No *
2. Manager of a metal stamping and forming company
* I'm in Canada. I started down the road of turning my hobby of buying swing CDs and playing for friends and the local swing society into a business so I could write off the purchase of CDs. Since "hanging out my shingle", I've "had" to buy equipment (2 dual-cd heads, 2 mixers, amps, speakers, stands, computers, netorked MP3 players, etc). In Canada, you must show a profit within 5 years or the government will disallow the writeoffs. At the rate I was going originally, I *might* have paid off the CDs within the 5 year timeframe. Now that I have all this other equipment, the outcome is very much in doubt.
P.S. to the guy from Qualcomm ... I am a long-time Eudora user![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
2. Manager of a metal stamping and forming company
* I'm in Canada. I started down the road of turning my hobby of buying swing CDs and playing for friends and the local swing society into a business so I could write off the purchase of CDs. Since "hanging out my shingle", I've "had" to buy equipment (2 dual-cd heads, 2 mixers, amps, speakers, stands, computers, netorked MP3 players, etc). In Canada, you must show a profit within 5 years or the government will disallow the writeoffs. At the rate I was going originally, I *might* have paid off the CDs within the 5 year timeframe. Now that I have all this other equipment, the outcome is very much in doubt.
P.S. to the guy from Qualcomm ... I am a long-time Eudora user
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
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1.) No ,I don't really earn a living from djing .For me Djing is a way to support my habit of swing dancing.It has paid for all my music purchases but it is not my real work.
2.) What do i do in the day ? Well for the past year it is a little complicated.Until 2003 I was a Building Contractor/Designer/Landscape Architect running my own business .On many occasions I would take a dj case to work and we would listen to swing music all day in the background.Several of my co-workers and customers were music fans or musicians.I used to enjoy giving a little dance info or history if it applied and I knew something to share.We had fun.
That all changed in fall of 2003. That is when I was in a near fatal auto accident in which I broke my neck,fractured my skull and generally banged myself up pretty bad.Since then I have been 1.) in a coma for a month or so 2.) in intensive care in a few different hospitals for the next 6 months 3.) in rehab 4.) in psychotherapy or 5) organizing and listenig to my music collection and remembering what fun it has all been.
I am not in any hurry to get back to work but I do miss swing dancing.During my recovery I have read some of Irvin Yalom's work .In it he says "You know ,I've never heard of anyone who has been near or known someone near death ," them say " I wish I had spent more time at work" They have however heard them say "I wish I had spent more time doing the things I wanted to do like reading,traveling being closer to people ,dancing or listening to music." That rings true for me.
another note .In the 1950s on tv regularly there was a well known wrestler named Goergeous George. He would enter the ring in a long golden cape,with long blond hair down to his shoulders held in place by golden bobby pins .He would take the pins from his hair and throw them into the audience as souvenirs .The audience would grab for them as if they were worth fortunes.He was a real showman.People would spend hours laughing at this jerk.Years later,Cindy Lauper.s manager met this man.His style began to influence many music acts .
For he did not publicise this but this absurd wrestler was a Psychiatrist who also worked at the menninger clinic .His act was
nothing more than making the public laugh a little and forget about the serious things we all deal with .
2.) What do i do in the day ? Well for the past year it is a little complicated.Until 2003 I was a Building Contractor/Designer/Landscape Architect running my own business .On many occasions I would take a dj case to work and we would listen to swing music all day in the background.Several of my co-workers and customers were music fans or musicians.I used to enjoy giving a little dance info or history if it applied and I knew something to share.We had fun.
That all changed in fall of 2003. That is when I was in a near fatal auto accident in which I broke my neck,fractured my skull and generally banged myself up pretty bad.Since then I have been 1.) in a coma for a month or so 2.) in intensive care in a few different hospitals for the next 6 months 3.) in rehab 4.) in psychotherapy or 5) organizing and listenig to my music collection and remembering what fun it has all been.
I am not in any hurry to get back to work but I do miss swing dancing.During my recovery I have read some of Irvin Yalom's work .In it he says "You know ,I've never heard of anyone who has been near or known someone near death ," them say " I wish I had spent more time at work" They have however heard them say "I wish I had spent more time doing the things I wanted to do like reading,traveling being closer to people ,dancing or listening to music." That rings true for me.
another note .In the 1950s on tv regularly there was a well known wrestler named Goergeous George. He would enter the ring in a long golden cape,with long blond hair down to his shoulders held in place by golden bobby pins .He would take the pins from his hair and throw them into the audience as souvenirs .The audience would grab for them as if they were worth fortunes.He was a real showman.People would spend hours laughing at this jerk.Years later,Cindy Lauper.s manager met this man.His style began to influence many music acts .
For he did not publicise this but this absurd wrestler was a Psychiatrist who also worked at the menninger clinic .His act was
nothing more than making the public laugh a little and forget about the serious things we all deal with .
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In 1975 I was in a bad car accident which messed up my knee (hairline fracture, they think, but they were never able to tell for sure with the equipment of the time). I went to physio for two years for damage to my back. And I was the least hurt in the accident (opposite side from impact site). Anyways, there are certain motions I have never been able to do since with my knee without hurting it.This side up wrote:That all changed in fall of 2003. That is when I was in a near fatal auto accident in which I broke my neck,fractured my skull and generally banged myself up pretty bad.Since then I have been 1.) in a coma for a month or so 2.) in intensive care in a few different hospitals for the next 6 months 3.) in rehab 4.) in psychotherapy or 5) organizing and listenig to my music collection and remembering what fun it has all been.
I am not in any hurry to get back to work but I do miss swing dancing. During my recovery I have read some of Irvin Yalom's work. In it he says "You know ,I've never heard of anyone who has been near or known someone near death ," them say " I wish I had spent more time at work"
In 1980, my brother died in a car accident.
It's true. These incidents make you realize that there's more to life than work. For me, my DJing is often the only time recently I get to hang with my swing dance buddies and chat and dance with them, so I treasure it a lot.
I carry at least some music with me everywhere, and listen at home, at work, in the car, when visiting friends. Even when I can't dance, the music is good for my ears and the rest of me.
I try to make a living teaching swing, and DJing on the side. Fun, but not recommended if you need to earn a decent wage. On the other hand, my work is my play.
and by the way, this quote:
"Take the worst of neo-swing and put it together with Glen Miller. The man thinks the Count is someone from a horror flick. Take pity on him and let him play two or three tunes. But be sure you have some errands to run." -- Bill Borgida
for the record, that is what I wrote when Zot asked me to give him a DJ reference! So please feel free to ask me for one any time....![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
and by the way, this quote:
"Take the worst of neo-swing and put it together with Glen Miller. The man thinks the Count is someone from a horror flick. Take pity on him and let him play two or three tunes. But be sure you have some errands to run." -- Bill Borgida
for the record, that is what I wrote when Zot asked me to give him a DJ reference! So please feel free to ask me for one any time....
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
"To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak"