(LONDON) It seems there simply aren't enough buskers in London's tube these days to satisfy the growing masses.Also known as the underground subway, a clear and present message to the "powers that be" is rumbling around the tube. Buskers believe many more should be permitted to display their art form in the nation's capital.

As it turns out, you can now take a quick internet lesson on How to be a Tube Busker with a recent article at the Londonist.com.

There's only one thing standing in the way - "the system". Tube busking has now been legal for 10 years. The article goes into a step-by-step process that may, in the end, prove the licensing procedure to be entirely futile.

You will be judged by a 3-person jury that may or may not be qualified to determine what is art and what...

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Joshua Jay has made available an online ebook containing over 500 pages of blessings from the "Father" of magic Robert Houdin to the Las Vegas style of Penn and Teller.Taking over 3 years to assemble some of the most important, influential, and helpful essays on magic ever written, Joshua has now made them available to all serious students of magic for free.

Continuing the Busker Central book review series, the list of worthy contributors is truly staggering:

Tommy Wonder
Charles Reynolds
Simon Aronson
Paul Harris
John Carney
Jamy Ian Swiss
Dariel Fitzke
Peter Samelson
Derren Brown
Michael Close
Pit Hartling

Eugene Burger
S.H. Sharpe
Rene Lavand
Robert-Houdin
Henning Nelms
Juan Tamariz
Rick Johnsson
Tom Stone
Darwin Ortiz
Milt Kort
Arturo de Ascanio

David Regal
Doug Conn
Ken Weber
David Kaye
Roberto Giobbi...

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Tom Jones’s first attempt at busking began ominously as a crowd gathered around a set of speakers and a lone microphone set up on the South Bank of the Thames near the Royal Festival Hall. “It’s Tom Jones, isn’t it?” one woman asked. “I’ve never liked him since he had his nose done. He had a sensible Welsh nose in the old days.”

Skateboarders and BMX bikers gathered nonplussed at a nearby underpass. Sir Tom would be using the graffiti-covered skating area if it rained, they were told. “That would be a bit awkward,” one BMX rider said. “We’d have to ride around him.”

But any doubt that the 68-year-old singer could still thrill a crowd was dispelled the moment he stepped up to the microphone. “Can you hear me all right?” he asked. The crowd, which had swelled to about 400, cheered and raised their arms, not in celebration, but to capture the moment on their mobile telephones.
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We just arrive yesterday in Amsterdam and we had a few surprises!
First of all, the city decided to give only 10 licences these year to play on the main spots with amplification. So forget it if you come as us to play here for a few weeks.
Also even if you are lucky and own a license, it's only possible to play with amplification 3 days a week, thursday, friday, saturday and from 12h to 13h, 15h to 16h, 18h to 19h and 20h to 21h, so even if you have a license you can play only a few shows three days a week!
Also i was told that you can not use fire anymore.
Well, we started our trip from Canada with Amsterdam and now we don't know where to go, who has a good idea?

(WWW) It's interesting to see what websites come up with their definition of a busker. One such site is the editable Wikipedia.org informing readers since 2001.The word "wiki" is Hawaiian for "quick". The definition of 'busker' redirects to the 'street performance' page started in 2003 which has been edited, believe-it-or-not, over a thousand times.

"Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities."

Besides the basic definition, the page also covers etymology, history, forms, collecting money, pitches, legislation, and notable performers. The latter is filled with famous and not-so-famous artists including George Michael, the Violent Femmes, and even Benjamin Franklin.

Early editing was done by the Wiki editors themselves...

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