leadingtone:

Reblogging because:

* This is a great photo
* This looks exactly like me at that age 

(Source: supermarthe)

bookspaperscissors:

ion-shenanigans:

bookspaperscissors:

clio-jlh:

bookspaperscissors:

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

(Photo of Joshua Bell by Eric Kabik)

So this is the thing about this.

First, I work in a city where there are a lot of commuters and a lot of folks playing music for them in subway stations and they will stop and listen and give money, but not in the morning usually, because they’re trying to get to work.  In the evening, it’s a little more relaxed—ten minutes can be spared.

Second, there’s such a large classical bias in this piece, as though everyone can agree that a violinist playing classical pieces is the best possible music anyone can hear.  Clearly everyone does not agree, or classical music and classical concerts would be selling a lot more than they do and so many orchestras wouldn’t need so much art subsidies.  Here in Brooklyn, I hear a lot of non-Western music, a good amount of jazz, and depending on where you are some popular music.  Who says that what Bell was playing is the best music ever written?  Why is this stated as fact?

It’s one of those experiments that doesn’t end up signifying very much at all.

Interesting point! (Though I don’t think it states that it is the ‘best’ music ever written, only ‘one of the most intricate pieces with a violin’) EDIT: Oh no I’m wrong, it does actually say that! :S

What a fascinating experiment. I think, if nothing else, this points out in a real sense how much priority our list of tasks for the day takes in our mind. What a shame, to miss a chance to appreciate something lovely.

One last comment re-blog, because I like this one. :)

danceabletragedy:

 Etude 6

(via imageinaction)

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what did you get? by Keshi Zumi

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Barbara Cooney  /via/