Beauty in an unexpected context

Jackie London

♥ Howlin' Pelle
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Cool.
 
Wow, that's really thought provoking actually. :) Also, a $3.5 million violin? It must sound and feel wonderful (for the musician using it as well as for listeners). It looks pretty old as well- I've always found the older and more well-made the instrument, the better the tone. Mine was made in 1921 and when I first got it the difference in tone between that and the previous, commercial, over-varnished one was astonishing.

Ahem. Sorry. Went off on a bit of a violin tangent there.
 
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"Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobble stones
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy

Ba-da-da-da-da-da-da, feelin' groovy

Hello, lamp post, what ya knowing
I've come to watch your flowers growing
Ain't you got no rhymes for me
Doot-in' doo-doo, feelin' groovy

Ba-da-da-da-da-da-da, feelin' groovy

I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy

Ba da da da da....
"

:cool:
 
Well, Beauty will never win as long as there's trains to catch to go to work and arrive on time. It takes me 75 minutes personally, I have two connections to make, if I stop to listen to an intricate piece of music, it's going to get me into trouble. :rolleyes:
 
....VERY interesting article/Item......

My mate was given a Tatty Old Cheap Violin ( with only One string attached) back in the 80's.
we went "busking" as a joke, outside a local pub that night....we got well drunk on the proceeds!!! ahh ....good ol' days....

Anyway,he decided to " renovate" it, and try to learn how to ACTUALLY play the thing...
A few years later ( after LOTS of practice...) His Violin Tutor gave him a Very old "Antique, but not very valuable" violin as a Gift, as he was taking to playing so well.
Haven't heard from him in a while, but I believe he is still playing....

My ( Co-incidental) claim to fame is that, after nearly being Run down by a Car, (...AGAIN....) I once painted "SLOW DOWN" on the ( Major) road outside my Home/Flat/Apartment.( In BOTH Directions...I don't do things on the cheap...).
somebody called the Police, and, as I was still painting, the Police arrived.
I was just about to finish the final "N", when the policemen told me to just behave myself, and go home.

Being rather Brave/Stupid/Slightly Tipsy, I decided to finish my protest.
The cops just laughed, and let me walk away anyway, my Artwork completed.

I HATE Speeding drivers with a Fecking UTTER Vengeance.....I personally know of a few children/adults who have been Killed by the swines.....
Thanks for reading!!
Dave.
 
Wonderful article. I always make time for the buskers, they're like those little green shoots that grow up out of the sidewalk, fighting the good fight.

Wow, that's really thought provoking actually. :) Also, a $3.5 million violin? It must sound and feel wonderful (for the musician using it as well as for listeners). It looks pretty old as well- I've always found the older and more well-made the instrument, the better the tone. Mine was made in 1921 and when I first got it the difference in tone between that and the previous, commercial, over-varnished one was astonishing.

Ahem. Sorry. Went off on a bit of a violin tangent there.

I used to play the violin - it was the most difficult, nuanced instrument I've ever attempted. It took more discipline and patience than I had to give; I eventually gave it up for the relative ease and cheap thrills of the electric guitar.

That experience keeps me humble because no matter how good I ever got at anything else, I never mastered the violin, and I was never able to coax it into producing those glorious, glorious sounds. The godawful sound of a violin played badly is exceeded only by the sound of a poorly played trumpet.

It's still my favorite instrument - miraculous. :)
 
....VERY interesting article/Item......

My mate was given a Tatty Old Cheap Violin ( with only One string attached) back in the 80's.
we went "busking" as a joke, outside a local pub that night....we got well drunk on the proceeds!!! ahh ....good ol' days....

Anyway,he decided to " renovate" it, and try to learn how to ACTUALLY play the thing...
A few years later ( after LOTS of practice...) His Violin Tutor gave him a Very old "Antique, but not very valuable" violin as a Gift, as he was taking to playing so well.
Haven't heard from him in a while, but I believe he is still playing....

My ( Co-incidental) claim to fame is that, after nearly being Run down by a Car, (...AGAIN....) I once painted "SLOW DOWN" on the ( Major) road outside my Home/Flat/Apartment.( In BOTH Directions...I don't do things on the cheap...).
somebody called the Police, and, as I was still painting, the Police arrived.
I was just about to finish the final "N", when the policemen told me to just behave myself, and go home.

Being rather Brave/Stupid/Slightly Tipsy, I decided to finish my protest.
The cops just laughed, and let me walk away anyway, my Artwork completed.

I HATE Speeding drivers with a Fecking UTTER Vengeance.....I personally know of a few children/adults who have been Killed by the swines.....
Thanks for reading!!
Dave.



I hate to Quote myself, but...I have only just heard on the local ( liverpool, UK)news that a Man was killed yesterday on the VERY same road....maybe my Paintwork has faded....ah well....I tried....R.I.P. mate.....
 
This is from an excellent experiment by the Washington Post's comedy writer Gene Weingarten. You can also watch and listen to violinist Hugh Gra\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b Joshua Bell's subway performance.

On that Friday in January, those private questions would be answered in an unusually public way. No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. His performance was arranged by The Washington Post as an experiment in context, perception and priorities -- as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?

It's also the namesake piece from Weingarten's recently-published collection of articles. You should look for the article about The Great Zucchini, an extremely popular kids' entertainer here in the Washington, DC area. It's wonderful and terrifying at the same time.
 
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....VERY interesting article/Item......

My mate was given a Tatty Old Cheap Violin ( with only One string attached) back in the 80's.
we went "busking" as a joke, outside a local pub that night....we got well drunk on the proceeds!!! ahh ....good ol' days....

Anyway,he decided to " renovate" it, and try to learn how to ACTUALLY play the thing...
A few years later ( after LOTS of practice...) His Violin Tutor gave him a Very old "Antique, but not very valuable" violin as a Gift, as he was taking to playing so well.
Haven't heard from him in a while, but I believe he is still playing....

My ( Co-incidental) claim to fame is that, after nearly being Run down by a Car, (...AGAIN....) I once painted "SLOW DOWN" on the ( Major) road outside my Home/Flat/Apartment.( In BOTH Directions...I don't do things on the cheap...).
somebody called the Police, and, as I was still painting, the Police arrived.
I was just about to finish the final "N", when the policemen told me to just behave myself, and go home.

Being rather Brave/Stupid/Slightly Tipsy, I decided to finish my protest.
The cops just laughed, and let me walk away anyway, my Artwork completed.

I HATE Speeding drivers with a Fecking UTTER Vengeance.....I personally know of a few children/adults who have been Killed by the swines.....
Thanks for reading!!
Dave.

:clap:

I hate to Quote myself, but...I have only just heard on the local ( liverpool, UK)news that a Man was killed yesterday on the VERY same road....maybe my Paintwork has faded....ah well....I tried....R.I.P. mate.....

:( Go touch up your work today!
 
Stuff wherever I had to be, idve stood there for the whole thing. captivated.and probably shushing the crowds.. lol
 
I'm not surprised.
In order to recognize beauty you have to be prone, and beauty is being marginalized as rather nonviable, because it nullifies functionalism, so to speak zombiism.

I remember in school whenever I came up with the issue of beauty in politics I was met with the hugest eyes I ever saw.

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Indeed. I would of stopped in, say, Grafton street. I even did a couple of times (even if it was mostly to get a sandwich from M and S :thumb:)

If that guy were to play in the cour des miracles that passes for a station that I find myself in every working morning, he'd have to face serious competition for attention: last week: one armless bloke. One person with very bad feet. One guy with his chest and his bum not facing the same direction (I'd post a pic but have none; don't know what his condition is called but it is very disturbing to see) 3 people selling battery-operated musical toys. One woman selling clothes and yelling they're dead cheap.

You wanna try and pay attention to a violonist in that environment at 7.15 AM. Get back to me if you manage to! :lbf:
 
Grafton Street in Dublin?

The same.:)
Yes, the situation for a lot of people isn't improving is it. Makes you almost grateful for having a job to go to and waking up at 6.30...(groan).
 
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