FOUND: The Great Lost Bill

Found:  The Shoegazer took advantage of a long weekend to eat and drink his way through Portland, Maine, the home to many of his favorite restaurants and bars.  Shoegazing was not explicitly on the itinerary, but finding money on the ground is about having a keen eye and being aware of your surroundings (particularly those below you).

Having previously come away from Portland beer bars with found money, The Shoegazer glanced around at the Great Lost Bear bar and spotted a bill lying below an occupied bar stool.  Since the stool dweller had yet to pay for anything, the Shoegazer determined that the bill was most likely not his, and thus up for grabs.  The night continued as other patrons trickled out of the bar, but this obvious first date situated above the mystery bill was continuing longer than initially predicted.  When the woman started to give her date advice about an apparently recent divorce, it was clear they were in this for the long haul.  The Shoegazer needed a plan.

So while putting on his jacket, The Shoegazer intentionally dropped a couple of coins and retrieved the wayward bill along with his coins.  While initially thought to be a single, The Great Lost Bill was in fact a twenty!

Location: This lost bill was found at The Great Lost Bear, a beer bar in Portland, Maine.  The bill was found under a bar stool at the main bar.

Source: Most likely the previous occupant of the bar stool that was later used for an internet date gone awry.

Destination: The Great Lost Twenty will remain in Portland for the time being, as it was spent on breakfast the following morning.

Why is the bear lost? He's blindfolded by a shoegazed $20!

 

FOUND: Black Taxi Fare

Found: Last Friday, The Shoegazer headed into Albany, probably the city nearest him that routinely gets touring bands through, for a bill that featured new favorites Black Taxi along with Paranoid Social Club and My Pet Dragon.  The Shoegazer caught Black Taxi live a few months ago and loved their onstage energy (not to mention catchy songs), though he was a tad disappointed to be at a street festival and not find any money on the ground.

However, this time The Shoegazer scanned the floors near the crowded main bar for treasures, and after a few false alarms that turned out to be napkins, he finally popped the Albany shoegazing cherry by recovering a crumpled, flattened $1 bill from the floor.

Location:  This one dollar bill turned up near the middle of the main bar at Jillian’s on North Pearl Street in Albany, NY.

Source: Albany is pretty divided sports-wise, with fans of New York teams, Buffalo and some Boston fans filling the room with various sports logos.  The Shoegazer hopes this bill came from a Yankees and/or Jets fan.

Destination: The next day The Shoegazer went to Mass MoCA in North Adams and then rolled a few games at the very cool Mt. Greylock Bowl afterward.  This dollar paid for one of the reasonably-priced games thrown on the alley’s vintage wooden lanes.

Ezra from Black Taxi posing with The Shoegazer's prize

FOUND: Sherman Cafe Cookies All Around

Found:  The Shoegazer recently ventured back to that old haunt of the Sherman Cafe, where the chocolate chip cookies are good enough to warrant crossing state lines.  As he stepped toward the counter to place his order, a light colored object on the otherwise dark floor caught the corner of his eye.  Low and behind, it was a one dollar bill, looking as it had been freshly dropped.  The Shoegazer’s Sherman-going companion, known on this blog as The Brookline Lebowski (due to a sudden burst of bowling prowess earlier that day), alerted The Shoegazer that the dollar’s source might still be very close by.

As it turned out, the customer identified himself as Matt, though not the same Sherman employee who found $3 in the vicinity of 69 School Street earlier this year.  This Matt said he would probably spend his newly recovered dollar on a cookie.  A smart move.

Location: This bill was spotted at the foot of the counter at Sherman Cafe in Union Square, Somerville, MA.  This marks the second time a dollar has turned up at this very spot.  As counters are near cash registers and therefore the site of cash transactions, occasionally money does turn up on the floor near coffee shop or store counters.  It’s a good place to look if you’re an aspiring shoegazer yourself.

Source: The Shoegazer’s compadre in Sherman cookie appreciation, Matt.

Destination:  Right back to the Sherman counter for one of their sweet treats!

side note – remember those Mass lottery tickets that resemble cash closely enough that they frequently fool The Shoegazer when they’re discarded on the ground?  The Brookline Lebowski topped off her record-breaking score of 117 at the lanes by winning $15 on one of these tickets.

The Brookline Lebowski beats the odds to win a crisp new $15 bill

FOUND: Radio Free Money

Found:  The Shoegazer has recently departed his longtime home in the Boston area for a more laid back setting, and in these new environs there’s much more green in the scenery than on the ground.  But on a recent trip back to his old stomping grounds, The Shoegazer happened onto the opening night of a new music venue in Somerville called Radio.  In the former Club Choices site (and with Choices’ sign still hung above the door), a new enclave of Boston rock was unveiled before our very eyes.

Maybe due to everything being so new, Radio’s credit card machine was not yet operational, resulting in a flurry of cash transactions as patrons sweaty from the crowds and lack of AC imbibed round after round of adult beverages.  It was only a matter of time before The Shoegazer found something – a one dollar bill lying at the feet of Goddamn Glenn of the band Parlour Bells.

Location:  The dollar bill was found near the bar in the raised area to the side – a mezzanine area not unlike a small version of the one found at the Middle East downstairs.  All of this happened in the brand new nightclub Radio, on Somerville Ave in Somerville, MA.

Source:  A lover of Boston rock & cheap beer!

Destination:  The Shoegazer, thinking this bill had come from Goddamn Glenn, offered it up to him, who immediately offered it up as a bonus tip for the busy-bee bartenders struggling to keep up with demand for drinks.

Goddamn Glenn with a Founding Father

Wanna Be A Shoegazer Too?

Most of the money The Shoegazer finds is dropped accidentally by unwitting people as they go about their daily business.  A transaction at a store or bar, the fumbling in pockets and purses for keys, or simply not stuffing a bill all the way into your pocket and having it wiggle out – and just like that, The Shoegazer is a little closer to making ends meet.  I’d say it requires some special skill, but really all you have to do is look down and be aware in places where money is likely to turn up (historically – bars, supermarkets and sidewalks).

But now, a new group of individuals is spreading the love, one $20 bill at a time.  Plenty O’ Twenties  are distributing cash throughout the Boston area and giving clues as to the whereabouts of each bill.  Get to it first, and it’s yours – that easy!  And now that The Shoegazer is no longer living in the Boston area, the playing field has been leveled for would-be shoegazers out there.  Recent $20 bills have been stashed under a bench in Harvard Square, in a cannon along the Charles and in the Davis Square sign outside Mike’s Pizza.  Another twenty was hidden inside the helmet of the Ted Williams statue outside Fenway Park – coincidentally the site of a $20 shoegaze that occurred before this blog began.

So keep your eyes on Plenty O’ Twenties and maybe you’ll find yourself a few bucks richer in the process!

 

LOST: The Shoegazer Stars In “Green Mountain Gone”

Lost:  Whether you’re a new reader to this blog, an accidental visitor looking for My Bloody Valentine records, or someone who’s been following my misadventures going back to 2007, The Shoegazer has been quite fortunate (or skilled, if you prefer to look at it that way) when it comes to finding money on the ground.  In 2010 alone, The Shoegazer fetched more than $800 from floors and sidewalks – enough for one month’s rent at that year’s going rate.

Given the frequency of barroom finds and the fact that The Shoegazer is often a tad tipsy in said bars, it’s more than likely that he has offered some money of his own back to the floors he has plucked so many wayward bills from.

The lack of recent posts can be attributed to one thing – The Shoegazer has recently changed his environs, and the new ones feature more green in the scenery than on the floors and sidewalks.  In fact, there are fewer floors and sidewalks from which to pluck from.

Today, The Shoegazer headed to his new job with cash in pocket, planning to spend it on gas, iced coffee at work and some groceries for dinner later.  One $20 bill went toward the gas, but when The Shoegazer reached for the other twenty come coffee time, it was nowhere to be found.  Not in The Shoegazermobile.  Not on the floor of said new workplace.  Not in the parking lot of said job or the bank he had just visited.  Nope, that $20 has been offered up to the shoegazing gods.

Location: This bill was lost somewhere in the town of Manchester, VT – most likely at a gas station or bank parking lot.

Source: The Shoegazer!

Destination: Hopefully some Vermonter in need retrieved this bill and will spent it in the local economy.  The Shoegazer just wishes it wasn’t the only cash he had on hand.  Hopefully the offering up of this bill will lead to future finds as The Shoegazer looks to add Vermont to the list of shoegaze sites – currently limited to Massachusetts, New York, Maine and New Hampshire.

FOUND: Just Got Paid…Saturday Nite!

Found:  Over this past year, Cambridge music venue TT the Bear’s has emerged as a newly fertile ground for finding dropped money.  This apparently is a new revelation, as The Shoegazer has been attending shows at TT’s since 1996 and only found a handful of singles there over the first 14 years.  But something happened in 2011 that led to multiple finds at TT’s, including one this past weekend.  The Shoegazer was in attendance for the Saturday “Heroes” dance night when he spotted undetermined US currency on the floor by the main bar.  He casually stepped over to the bar, reached down and retrieved a $5 bill.

Location:  This fiver was retrieved from the floor by the main bar at TT the Bear’s in Cambridge, MA.

Source: “Heroes” attracts a motley crowd of goths, rockers, hipsters, students and a healthy mix of straight and gay fans of the night’s new wave playlist.  Some of the outfits worn to “Heroes” are not conducive for holding on to money.  Perhaps it was the shirtless dancer who sort of looks like a cross between Iggy Pop and Perry Farrel.

Destination: In the spirit of spending found money at the site of its discovery, this fiver was…err… re-invested at the main bar for an undetermined tasty beverage.  But not until after it posed for a close up with the one and only DJ Paul Foley, 1/2 of the duo Wasted Talent and regular behind the decks at Think Tank on Friday nights.

DJ Paul Foley (left), Five Dollar Bill (right). Catch DJ Paul Foley on Fridays at Think Tank for "Just Got Paid - Friday Nite!". Bring your own fivers.

FOUND: The Shoegazer Recovers His Own Dropped Bill

Found:  The Shoegazer can, given a minute or two to think about it, recall several instances where he has dropped money on the ground.  Every once in awhile, it happens – a reach into the pocket for that $20 bill only to find it absent.  While at the Goodwill store the other day buying some records, he reached for the $10 bill he knew was there only to find a couple of ones.  The first thought was the $10 had been dropped in nearby Anna’s Taqueria after the purchase of a burrito – but what were the chances it was still there?  The Shoegazer knows how often money gets returned to its source after it’s been dropped – almost zilch.

It was then that The Shoegazer decided to play his own game and look downward – spotting the wayward ten that lay sitting between his feet at the counter of the goodwill.  While briefly lost, the $10 was recovered and The Shoegazer went on his merry way.

Location: This bill was dropped – and found – at the checkout counter of the Davis Square Goodwill store in Somerville, MA.

Source – The Shoegazer!

Destination:  After this bill’s recovery, The Shoegazer decided that such a strong-willed and free-spirited ten dollar bill should be parted with sooner rather than later.  So across the street he went, to Downtown Wine & Spirits, and spent the sawbuck on some Brooklyn Summer Ale.

FOUND: A Photogenic Dollar

Found:  The photobooth at Think Tank in Kendall Square is a popular attraction at the bar, frequently luring tipsy patrons inside to make faces at the camera amid the privacy of the curtain.  Last winter, The Shoegazer found a $20 bill next to the booth, and just a few weeks ago another $20 was found not far from it.  So as The Shoegazer was passing the photobooth to head toward the bathroom the other night, he noticed something sitting inside the booth.  No, it wasn’t a drunken patron waiting for their picture to be taken, but a $1 bill lying flat on the seat.

Location: This bill was found in the photobooth at Think Tank in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA

Source:  A photogenic Think Tank reveler!

Destination:  This dollar bill was spent on The Shoegazer’s guilty pleasure late night snack of choice, beef jerky.

left behind, The Shoegazer gave this photogenic bill its moment in the booth

FOUND: The Cubic Zirconia Mines

Found: Boston-area rock band The Diamond Mines has been playing shows around town for some years now, and this past Friday they took over the cozy Precinct in Union Square, Somerville, for a CD release show with Thick Shakes, Yale Massachusetts and Yoni Gordon.  Needing to drown his sorrows after a tough Bruins loss and let loose after a long work shift, The Shoegazer ventured to the small music venue not far from his house.  After the bands had finished playing, the lights came on and The Shoegazer glanced around to see if he could spot anything monetary in nature.  He almost didn’t investigate the crumpled piece of paper up against a wall, but when he did, it was quickly revealed to be a $20 bill.

Location: This twenty was found against the wall that borders the raised section of the back room at Precinct in Union Square, Somerville, MA.

Source: The Shoegazer knew quite a few people at this show, though nobody, including the spectators pictured below, claimed to have lost a $20 bill.  If you think it might have been yours, feel free to email theshoegazerblog@gmail.com – though the money has already been spent, The Shoegazer might buy you a beer next time he sees you.

Destination: This bill purchased lunch the next day and probably the first and second beers at the Rosebud the following night, where he caught Muy Cansado and The Rationales, but missed Brendan Boogie.

Ben and Lauren pose with The Shoegazer's latest prize