One of the great things about working in a secondhand bookshop is being able to listen to the radio or the music of your choice whenever you like, which for me is most of the day. When I bought the property, along with the shelves, a few chairs and a centimetre of dust, I inherited the previous owner's stereo system consisting of a good Pioneer amp, tuner and tape deck, an average cd player and turntable and 4 cracking speakers. Upstairs are 2 Celestion Ditton 44s from the 60s I think. Downstairs are a couple of three and a half foot tall beasts with no visible make on them. These brutes could wake the dead when the volume is pumped up, without any distortion but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for the neighbours) there aren't too many opportunities to put them through their paces. Occasionally, as I'm doing the tour of the shop just before closing to turn off all the lights and check that no customers are lurking in dark corners, I put on something appropriate(perhaps some electric Dylan or Credence Clearwater Revival) and crank the volume up. Good money has been offered for these speakers on several occasions but always politely declined.
Not all of my music is apporopriate for playing in a bookshop, no matter what the volume. Some of Tom Waits more experimental offerings might scare the customers while Stevie Ray Vaughan or Rory Gallagher would probably be a bit to loud and distracting. Some stuff is well suited to the atmosphere of a bookshop: maybe Nick Drake's "happier" albums, Kate Rusby, The Be Good Tanyas or some classic jazz from Ella, Billie or Louis. Mind you even what you may think would be totally inoffensive will offend and annoy someone. One elderly lady customer in a charity shop I used to work in would put a finger in each ear when we played Dougie MacLean and would be heard to mutter "could someone not put that man out of his misery?".
Anyway you can't spend your whole life worrying about what other people think and after all it is my shop so I don't mind playing a bit of Dylan, Van the Man, Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard even if they're not everyone's cup of tea.
Top of the playlist over the past few months have been: Sam Baker's two albums, 'Mercy' and 'Pretty World'; Gurf Morlix's 'Diamonds to Dust'; Roddy Woomble's 'My Secret is my Silence' and Julie Fowlis's gaelic offering 'Cuilidh'. Nearly any time I put on Gurf Morlix or Sam Baker, someone would ask "Who's that singing". Another album which gets that reaction is 'The House Carpenter's Daughter' by Natalie Merchant.
One drawback to having all this music in the shop is that people are constantly wanting to buy one of the CDs or LPs despite the blindingly obvious "NOT FOR SALE" signs . Only today someone brought up Bob Dylan's 'Live 1975 - The Rolling Thunder Review' double cd and asked how much it was. As if. Also this morning a well known Scottish/Australian author whose name I'd better not divulge(though it begins with 'F' and ends with 'aber') approached me with a strange request. "I know your vinyl isn't for sale but is there any chance I could borrow your copy of Van Morrison 'Hymns to the Silence' to copy as it isn't available on cd any more?" He said he'd return it by this afternoon and I reckoned someone so well known should be easy enough to track down if he didn't bring it back so I thought "why not?". It's half past four now and there's no sign of him yet and it's started to pour but I'm sure I'll get the album back before long.
The tuner get's its fair share of use too as I usually have radio 3 on in the morning. They play a good range of music and generally the presenters are incredibly enthusiastic and knowledgable without being patronising. Some of the music is on the 'slightly challenging' side but generally it's worth the effort. I'm not sure what it is about it but I don't like Classic fm(in fact it's banned in the shop). It could be the adverts, or the annoying presenters with their fake mid-atlantic accents, or the whole "relaxing/soothing/romantic" thang. I'm not sure, but it generally has me reaching for the bucket.
I used to be a devotee of the Tom Morton show on Radio Scotland every afternoon when I just had a wee radio sitting beside me but it doesn't really work over the big speakers what with the chat, the competitions etc. Tom is very good and quite funny and has a great taste in and knowledge of music but I think the choice of music isn't what it could be with a bit too much pop and "classic rock". A bit too Radio 2. I love radio 4 as well - World at One, Afternoon Play, Brain of Britain, Feedback etc. but again not on the big system and unfortunately the little radio sitting by my desk has rubbish reception on FM. Once we get a decent computer with decent broadband, I'll be able to listen to Radio 4 on it and I'll also be able to take advantage of the great "Listen again" facility on the BBC to listen to all the great Radio 4 shows I've missed or Radio 2's Bob Harris Country or Iain Anderson's great night time show on Radio Scotland.
Of course there's one thing that takes priority over Radio 3, Radio 4, Van the Man, Dylan, Billie Holliday or whatever and that's Test Match Special. What a joy work is when I can sit and listen to the wit and wisdom of Aggers, Blowers or Vic, the dulcet tones of Sir Vivian Richards, Colin Croft, Barry Richards,Brian Waddell et al.
now playing.....Sufjan Stevens "Come on feel the Illinoise"
p.s 5.01pm - 'Hymns to the Silence ' has just been returned!
p.p.s. Check out - http://www.sambakermusic.com/
Monday, 29 October 2007
Friday, 27 July 2007
Gies a job mister!
One of the more difficult things about running a bookshop (after the tax return and all other dealings with authority) is staffing the shop. Ours is quite a big shop and although I dearly love my job and regularly thank the Lord that I no longer work for Scottish Widows, I can't be here all the time. On thursday mornings I go to an auction to buy books. On saturdays, depending on the time of year, I might be found at Easter Road watching Hibernian or at Inverleith Park playing cricket for Holy Cross 3rd XI or in Oban visiting the in-laws. Other days I might have to do a house call so it's good to have someone else in the shop. Sometimes we even go on holiday.
If I gave a job to every Tom, Dick and Harriet who asked for one, as well as being bankrupt, everyone would get to work about 3 hours per week and I'd be constantly training people and seriously thinking about a return to Scottish Widows. On average we probably get 3 requests per week, rising to about 30 in the summer when the world and his wife come to Edinburgh and want a job for 2-3 months. Most applicants seem very nice and I'd love to give them a job if I could but unfortunately I have to explain that it takes about 2-3 months to train somebody properly so it's not really in my interests to pay someone to learn the ropes and then see them disappear back to Brisbane, Barcelona, Bratislava, Baltimore, Balbriggan or whatever other Bally place they come from.
As I said, most of these folk seem quite nice and I always feel bad as I explain why I can't give them a job. There are exceptions however. Yesterday a young Russian boy called Leonid came into the shop and told me why he thought I should employ him. Generally I have nothing against Russians: I read Dostoevsky, listen to Mussorgsky, download music from cheap(but apparently legal) Russian internet sites and I even plan to visit St. Petersburg and Moscow some day. This fellow, however, tested my Russophile tendencies to the limit as he explained why I shold be begging him to work for me. I tried the "how long do you plan to be in Edinburgh for" question which usually serves as an excuse to dismiss any unwanteds, and I thought I had him when he replied "2 or 3 months". Even as I was explaing why this wouldn't do though, he was changing his story, saying that actually he hoped to find a job somewhere and when the lucky employer found out how indispensible he was, they would immediately apply for a work permit on his behalf. Besides, he was "passionate about books". "My passions" he said in his heavy russian accent"are books and wimen. All my spare time I spend rrreading books and talking to wimen so this would be peerfect job forr me" This was said without even the slightest hint of irony or the slightest trace of a smile on his face. I was beginning to get a bit scared of this modern day Rasputin so I asked him to leave a cv with me so that when I needed someone I could consider him. I don't know if he believed me but he eventually left and I breathed a sigh of relief. I hope I don't see him again though I have to say I would be quite curious to read his cv.
Colt, a theology student and my best employee, is unfortunately leaving next week. He is heading back to Amerikay because our useless government won't renew his Malaysian wife's visa. If she was a terrorist this would be understandable and quite reasonable but she's actually a highly trained doctor who has lived here for the best part of ten years.
The gaping void left by Colt will however be temporarily filled by a student from Leipzig who is attempting to gain experience for life in the real world by doing her 3 month placement at Edinburgh Books. She doesn't fit the profile for prospective employees as she will only be here for three months and doesn't have fluent english but on this occasion I'm prepared to make an exception as we will be getting her on the cheap thanks to the German government. Whether working in an Edinburgh secondhand bookshop could ever prepare anybody for the real world is a moot point, but we'll be happy to have her over our busiest time of the year.
When she leaves I'll have to find someone else. Perhaps an English philosophy student fresh out of public school or a single mum who is writing a children's novel in her spare time. Maybe even another American theology student who is good at everything he turns his hand to. Any of these would be fine but one thing is for sure: it won't be Leonid, the Russian Lothario.
Clarence.
If I gave a job to every Tom, Dick and Harriet who asked for one, as well as being bankrupt, everyone would get to work about 3 hours per week and I'd be constantly training people and seriously thinking about a return to Scottish Widows. On average we probably get 3 requests per week, rising to about 30 in the summer when the world and his wife come to Edinburgh and want a job for 2-3 months. Most applicants seem very nice and I'd love to give them a job if I could but unfortunately I have to explain that it takes about 2-3 months to train somebody properly so it's not really in my interests to pay someone to learn the ropes and then see them disappear back to Brisbane, Barcelona, Bratislava, Baltimore, Balbriggan or whatever other Bally place they come from.
As I said, most of these folk seem quite nice and I always feel bad as I explain why I can't give them a job. There are exceptions however. Yesterday a young Russian boy called Leonid came into the shop and told me why he thought I should employ him. Generally I have nothing against Russians: I read Dostoevsky, listen to Mussorgsky, download music from cheap(but apparently legal) Russian internet sites and I even plan to visit St. Petersburg and Moscow some day. This fellow, however, tested my Russophile tendencies to the limit as he explained why I shold be begging him to work for me. I tried the "how long do you plan to be in Edinburgh for" question which usually serves as an excuse to dismiss any unwanteds, and I thought I had him when he replied "2 or 3 months". Even as I was explaing why this wouldn't do though, he was changing his story, saying that actually he hoped to find a job somewhere and when the lucky employer found out how indispensible he was, they would immediately apply for a work permit on his behalf. Besides, he was "passionate about books". "My passions" he said in his heavy russian accent"are books and wimen. All my spare time I spend rrreading books and talking to wimen so this would be peerfect job forr me" This was said without even the slightest hint of irony or the slightest trace of a smile on his face. I was beginning to get a bit scared of this modern day Rasputin so I asked him to leave a cv with me so that when I needed someone I could consider him. I don't know if he believed me but he eventually left and I breathed a sigh of relief. I hope I don't see him again though I have to say I would be quite curious to read his cv.
Colt, a theology student and my best employee, is unfortunately leaving next week. He is heading back to Amerikay because our useless government won't renew his Malaysian wife's visa. If she was a terrorist this would be understandable and quite reasonable but she's actually a highly trained doctor who has lived here for the best part of ten years.
The gaping void left by Colt will however be temporarily filled by a student from Leipzig who is attempting to gain experience for life in the real world by doing her 3 month placement at Edinburgh Books. She doesn't fit the profile for prospective employees as she will only be here for three months and doesn't have fluent english but on this occasion I'm prepared to make an exception as we will be getting her on the cheap thanks to the German government. Whether working in an Edinburgh secondhand bookshop could ever prepare anybody for the real world is a moot point, but we'll be happy to have her over our busiest time of the year.
When she leaves I'll have to find someone else. Perhaps an English philosophy student fresh out of public school or a single mum who is writing a children's novel in her spare time. Maybe even another American theology student who is good at everything he turns his hand to. Any of these would be fine but one thing is for sure: it won't be Leonid, the Russian Lothario.
Clarence.
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