An experiment in beauty - Page 4

Hells no man, I drive around until the song is over and the next one starts...which usually means sitting in the driveway listening to THAT one. I'm also not the kind of person that has to stop what I'm doing to appreciate beauty (or lack there of...or whatever). I try and takes things in as I go along...like constant feedback.

I only EVER make good bets. That's the whole point of betting!

Also, you can leave then music on with the engine shut off. That way, you don't even have to feel bad about the carbon emissions. Though if I were you, I might feel pretty bad about my choice in music....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g )

Then you, sir, are my brother.

But I would have stopped for Joshua Bell.

The whole point of betting is that prior to the conclusion, both the eventual winners and the eventual losers have persuaded themselves that they are on the right side of the bet and like most forms of snobbery its a zero sum game. Like Gore Vidal said of Americans in a different context, "its not enough that they win, others must lose." Apparently, for many, the personal enjoyment of beauty is not enough, their choices must be validated by comparison with others. That article (and indeed the whole notion behind the "experiment") reeked of patronizing snobbery.

Now, I totally agree....but reading that and then looking at a picture of Jonathan Winters as your avatar (unless you ARE Mr. Winters....) is pretty damn funny....

Sauce - who knows, I might have stopped for the guy too...especially since I don't walk around with an ipod on all the time (not that there's anything wrong with that )

Did this article really strike a nerve for you or something? Wow.

Or maybe it stuck a cord...

Jon.

There's a reason I chose "nerve".

See, I could argue the opposite. Are you so unaware of your life that you just stop to listen to some guy playing music in the subway? Don't you have something to do? But, aha, that's the problem. Maybe you know that you are running well early for work and can take 10 minutes.

And wanting to get to work on time may have a very useful purpose that has little to do with work. I may want to make sure I get out on time so I can go do something else that evening--like go to the symphony.

It's not "romantic" or such to say that people on their way to work ignoring the busker are acting "mindlessly." It's flat-out rude. You have absolutely no idea what is going through their heads or what their motivations are.


Or they just don't care. There's a huge difference. I'd stop at the printing presses too, but wouldn't give a second glance at the guy playing Bach. I don't like classical music. Had he been tap dancing I probably would stop.

Most days on my way home from work, I pass this guy trying to sell his books on the street. One of them is titled It's Just a Damn Date. One of these days I may stop to talk to him and buy one of his books. But you know why I don't? I'm on my way to meet my wife and take the bus home with her. And she's waaaaay more important. You (and others) talk about beauty and how no one stopping to listen to a classical violinist is a sign they can't appreciate it. Au contraire, I have beauty in mind--but it's not that music or that writing.

Anyway, that's enough from me on the subject. I thought the very premise of the article was patronizing and rude. Don't assume what I'm thinking or what my motivations are.

bob

I say this, in part, to play the Devil's advocate and in part as someone with a work schedule that would let me stop for an hour and listen if I wanted:

I like what I do for a living. I'm not being deprived of too much by going to work other than sleeping in.

Yes, it is sad that people are forced into a "job" rather than a "vocation," as some would differentiate them. But the very idea that every person (or even a majority) who passed this guy by are somehow slavishly driven by their jobs is a leap, I think. Certainly to the degree that some speak, it is a leap.

bob

I wouldnt say it struck a nerve. That would indicate a more dramatic reaction to the article than I actually had. More of an annoying affirmation of what I have reluctantly come to conclude about class in america and could probably more tersely be described with the word "sheesh". People are no damn good and those that should have the strongest Kung Fu frequently have the weakest.

This was an interesting experiment... being a violinist myself, I knew who Joshua Bell was so I definitely would have stopped and listened to him play his $4 million violin until he was finished -- even if I had to "call in sick" to the office... and then I would have taken him out for a cup of coffee if he had time... but I'm obviously biased. More comments about this article here: http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=31545&page=6 (starting from post #89)

Jonathan Winters is one of those guys everybody gives an obligatory bow to but we never really stop and think how subversive he was. Subversive in a constructive ego free way .

All I will say is that most of the most brilliant writers and social critics have been patronizing and rude: Twain, Mencken, Wilde, Adams, Vonnegut(RIP).

Sometimes a message has to be a slap in the face.

I can understand being in a hurry, and obviously you pick your battles. I have hurried by many a thing to see my girlfriend or a concert. Like I said, I'm a musician and this was personally more affecting.