why do i hate that artist thing that people keep posting on my facebook so much? why am i such a jerk?

http://lolzombie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/the-hormone-guide-demotivational-poster-1232545942.jpeg

that is terrible but I still lolled

Yeah, it's awful and horrible and sexist, but... well, free wine.

You lolled? Here, have some wine.

so OTM. wait, did i say that out loud?

have some wine

- Bob Marley

...don't ever try to cage me, or I will rip your eyes out with my cruel talons and feed your shredded flesh to my screaming children.

I know Bob Marley has said a lot of things but I don't remember him saying that

here, have some weed

-- bob marley

http://i.imgur.com/PHQpV.jpg

must've gotten that from the "brb, murder-suicide" pinterest board.

is that a tattoo of the ark of the covenant?

but waht do you hate?

Did we talk about this barf-inducing story yet?

"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 1,100 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, and 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 most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

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

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a 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?" By: Josh Nonnenmoc.

Oh, there's a blurry photo to accompany it:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/183943_431826886867286_716070848_n.jpg

yeh that's a real thing, writer got a Pulitzer iirc http://youtu.be/hnOPu0_YWhw

I think that's a perfect metaphor, actually. Much like when you hear a violin recital in the proper context, it's inspiring. When it's in a subway station (and, let's be honest here, Facebook is the subway of the Internet), it's a nuisance.

Would be curious about the public transit behavior of Joshua Bell and other people behind this story. Does it take them, like, 5 or 6 hours to get anywhere?

I couldn't hear it I was jamming out to the latest hippity hop on my mp3 player device

I just hang out in public transport stations, they're the new third place everyone loves

well i don't know if something you can walk by is a nuisance, if he was following you around playing bach with a pleading look in his eyes maybe then it would be one.

lol

that joshua bell story is kind of cool but the writer of course comes to the dumbest conclusions

that story actually breaks my heart because Josh Bell is total bro who can throw down a girly drink

it's transit station though! people go there to go somewhere else. it's not a hotel lobby where ppl are just bored chilling out with nothing better to do...everyone's on their way to or from somewhere else, there's nothing about the design of those places that encourages you to linger except on a platform waiting for a train

if it's so great play it somewhere where ppl might be able/more inclined to stop idk

DON'T BOTHER ME i'M LATE FOR MY TRAIN

We regret to inform you that Joshua Bell will not be performing tonight. He got caught up watching the Rick Sprinfield performance at Penn station on his way in.

That story Jeff posted reminds me of when I saw Megan Fox in a comic book store in 2006 (with her then-boyfriend Brian Austin Green). I didn't notice she was the Hottest Woman on the Planet (Maxim™) at the time and, well, I guess one of the possible conclusions from that experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and notice one of the sexiest Hollywood actresses of her era (2007-2009) getting some comic books with her boyfriend, and pay respect to that beauty/hotness/whatever, how many other things are we missing?" By: Josh Nonnenmoc.

the real conclusion of that experiment isn't that ppl are too busy to listen to good music, it's that busking in subway stations is a terrible idea

you need to either set up on the platform or find an outdoor location near a destination like a restaurant or a town plaza, otherwise you're going to suffer from "that's great but I have someplace to be"

hmm, not sure if the aesthetic judgments of hotness by a celebrity-obsessed press is the same as the aesthetic appreciation of a musical composition and skilled performer. 6/10

that reminds me of the time my wife had a weird nightmare ("nightmare") about kiefer sutherland and then a couple days later he sat down next to us at a cafe and she barely noticed him. If we do not have a moment to stop and notice kiefer sutherland (the lost boys, flatliners, tv's '24') having a salad at the next table, how many other things are we missing?" By: Josh Nonnenmoc.

I don't know, mh, that "Are You Hot?" reality show with Lorenzo Lamas had it down to a science. I'm not sure the same could be said about music appreciation. That's subjective. xpost

Tragic tale of busker scraping by on $40/hour.

we must take time to stop and smell the Kiefer Sutherlands

well, if people say that megan fox was one of the hottest of our age in a couple hundred years, I will feel she has the longevity of Bach

i've seen better heads on a mug of beer

we must take time to appreciate beer

That story's a few years old, and I remember when it first popped up reading a counter argument by somebody saying that the problem wasn't the quality of the playing, the problem was that Bell was a really lousy busker.

Tragic tale of busker scraping by on $40/hour.

you know no one can busk for 8 hours straight, right

xp: lol J3ff

here is where we talked about this whole thing before

Did he take requests?

he should have played "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band. people love that song.

yeah I hate to tell the guy, but long form compositions aren't really good busking material

<3 crut

playing 'piano man' on violin would have been epic

it's transit station though! people go there to go somewhere else. it's not a hotel lobby where ppl are just bored chilling out with nothing better to do...everyone's on their way to or from somewhere else, there's nothing about the design of those places that encourages you to linger except on a platform waiting for a train

This is a great point, and the next experiment should be, I dunno, a concert pianist (or, ideally, Cecil Taylor) playing in an insanely high-priced hotel lobby, and see who among the moneyed class stops their conversations about credit default swaps to listen.

srsly im sure if he had been on the platform people wouldve noticed that the music is good instead he was in a spot where people hear him for three seconds while walking by, its almost like thats what they wanted to happen

see perception people cant tell if somethings good if they walk past it and dont pay any attention, makes u think

we hung this van gogh by the side of the highway and lets see what happened

i don't know, it's good to be reminded every now and then that i'm a SHEEP maaan. i'd give the author my own version of the pulitzer, if my cloven hooves could hold anything.

Oh, I guess we have talked about it before. It just fits right in with the whole Facebook meme/macro vibe. Like, it has that same really infuriatingly smug, sanctimonious tone to it that all this garbage does.