Random Encounters: Urban Cowboy

Random Encounter: Coming across an interesting subject, scene, or situation that isn’t significant in a journalistic or tourist sense but deserves more than a single snapshot to record.

This was a surreal encounter. He started setting up at Beitou park shortly after I finished photographing the Chinese Go match. At first, everything seemed pretty normal. He was a street musician tamely dressed in a stripped polo and jeans setting up his “stage” with a keyboard, signs, donation box, and self-recorded CDs for sale.

Then he put on the polkadot scarf, bright jacket, and cowboy hat and started belting out American standbys like Martin’s “That’s Amore” and Sinatra’s “My Way”.

He attracted a rather young audience.

But the more mature in the audience weren’t impressed.

Yes I left him a donation, but I declined to get a CD.

Judge for yourself. I’ll leave you on some video footage I took of him singing “Cuando, Cuando, Cuando”.

Next week: the last random encounter from Beitou park. I swear.