David Chen & the Muddy Basin Ramblers

Odds and Ends

So, who did I run into at an MRT station last night? Mark, the accordian player who sat in with us for two shows when Connor was visiting the Middle East. We had a pretty wide-ranging conversation considering that it only lasted between Taipei Main Station and GongGuan.

While we were chatting on the platform waiting for the green line train to come, a yellow line train pulled in. A fellow in an electric wheelchair tried to ride into the car, but he got stuck. The two front wheels of his vehicle got wedged in the gap between the car and edge of the platform. People standing nearby sort of freaked, imagining the door closing on him and the train pulling out of the station. But of course, it didn’t. It took the volunteer rescue team a little while to figure out how to heft the heavy wheelchair out of the gap and into the car, but they did it. There were no station employees around at all. If the guy in the chair had backed in to the car, he might have made it unassisted, since his rear wheels were larger, but maybe not. Had he never had the problem before? I think if that happened once to me, I would make damn sure it didn’t happen again.

Anyways, Mark and I chatted. He’s living in Hsintien now, like two thirds of the Ramblers, having trouble filling out his work schedule, something many of us can relate to, and he’s got a band. And they were performing that night at the Living Room. If I remember correctly, him on accordian, an electric bass player, a percussionist/unusual instrument player, a drummer, and maybe someone else. He described the sound as punk/gypsy/folk. Intriguing. Unfortunately, I had plans for the evening already, so I couldn’t get over to the Living Room to check them out. It is good to hear that he got something together. I know we enjoyed having him play with us.