<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">In a message dated 3/5/03 5:37:27 PM Eastern Standard Time, zenith@ans.com.au writes:<BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">The Sydney-Zenith do not use any tip jar and we agree that some fans come up<BR>
with money requesting specific numbers but we have not matched US $100 yet,<BR>
only AUS $100 which seems to be rapidly approaching the US amount.<BR>
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Well, now here's a subject that will divide us into two camps...the matter of tips. Professional or Amatuer?? Our hybrid (amatuer and professional members) band has played at two locations each once a month for the last 5 years and we HAVE to get tips...we hardly get any money at all from the restaurants (we do get eats from the luncheon menu). So we openly leave a pot in front for 'tips' and once a night have to announce that the <B>pot is being passed around</B>. We usually sympathetic with our patrons who may have never visited New Orleans and learned the custom. Talk about unprofessionalism! However, we do maintain a mailing list and have to pay about $300 a mailing for that 4 times a year. Our fans appreciate that since there is no other way for them to really know what we're up to.<BR>
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In the last year or so, I have made the pot passing more of a comedy sketch and that helps. People have said they sort of look forward to what new spin I will come up with. We played at our westside club on Lincoln's birthday and I dreamt up a story of Lincoln needing help with his cell phone bill..so of course, that address was to be provided by Abe himself, but instead was presented by a man (me) in a black jacket and tall black hat who represented himself as a member of the Homeland Security department (formerly Dept of the Interior). Abe had written the letter on the back of his cell phone bill which mystified him...what was that little box that people talked into? etc/etc (Abe apparently had flown south for some Florida sunshine and could not make it to his party.)<BR>
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Well, as it turned out the showing that night was slim due to a major snowstorm which we decided to ignore and our take was only about $35. Given that turn of events, when we played at our east side gig two weeks later, I mentioned the Lincoln cell phone fund drive was still in trouble and the poor contributions were made by the hicks on the west side, etc. and without all the rich story generated, all I did was pop on the top hat and we pulled in about $150 out of about 60 patrons. <BR>
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I can now invision Jim Beebe and all the great professional musician contributors to this dialogue now frantically reaching to pull the plugs on their computer. But...hey...you gotta know the territory. Gasoline and postage ain't free.<BR>
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<P ALIGN=CENTER></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SCRIPT" FACE="Comic Sans MS" LANG="0">Bud Taylor<BR>
<B>Smugtown Stompers</B><BR>
Rochester, NY<BR>
Traditional Jazz since 1958</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"><BR>
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