John Williams, Bagpipe style

More awesome stuff about downtown! Frequently, somewhere near the intersection just below my building, you can frequently hear street musicians playing. And since I'm only 6 floors up, I can usually hear them from my desk at work. A few weeks ago, it was a guy with a sax playing the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel. Today, we got a dude in a kilt playin' the bagpipes. He started off with a bizarrely jazzy 'Scotland the Brave'... and then segued into the Star Wars theme song. It was the greatest bit of pipery I've ever heard (and believe me, I've heard a lot).

Now, this building I work in. It's not a secure building by any means. Anyone can waltz in, take the elevators up to wherever they want to go. The offices themselves are locked, though (hell, you even need a code to get into the bathrooms) so there are courtesy phones outside the doors for visitors. Well, a few weeks ago, ours disappeared. Someone called in around 10:30 one morning, and by the time the Purolator delivery dude showed up around 11, the phone was gone. The few of us who noticed just assumed it was removed for repairs or something and didn't give it a second thought; at least, not until the office manager found out and freaked out. Turns out someone decided to STEAL our phone. It still makes me laugh.

And then there's the crazies. I'm not (just) talking about the Scientology center a few blocks north. There's also the dudes who mutter to themselves; talk to themselves; argue with themselves; and scream obscenities at themselves so loud you can hear them from 3 blocks away. And my personal favorite, the Indian lady who's dressed like every other working schmuck around and doesn't seem at all unusual... until you take a look at the sheaf of papers in her hand, which turn out to have things like "WHEN YOU SLEEP IS WHEN THEY GET TO YOU" written on them in big blue marker. She holds these papers at her side, like she's just carrying around some reading material, and shuffles the messages around as she walks. It's a very unique way to deliver your message, I'll give her that.