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#234729 04/08/07 02:09 PM
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
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this is hilarious and mind boggling

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=artslot

A hundred feet away, across the arcade, was the lottery line, sometimes five or six people long. They had a much better view of Bell than Tindley did, if they had just turned around. But no one did. Not in the entire 43 minutes. They just shuffled forward toward that machine spitting out numbers. Eyes on the prize.

J.T. Tillman was in that line. A computer specialist for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he remembers every single number he played that day -- 10 of them, $2 apiece, for a total of $20. He doesn't recall what the violinist was playing, though. He says it sounded like generic classical music, the kind the ship's band was playing in "Titanic," before the iceberg.

"I didn't think nothing of it," Tillman says, "just a guy trying to make a couple of bucks." Tillman would have given him one or two, he said, but he spent all his cash on lotto.

When he is told that he stiffed one of the best musicians in the world, he laughs.

"Is he ever going to play around here again?"

"Yeah, but you're going to have to pay a lot to hear him."

"Damn."

Tillman didn't win the lottery, either.

Marty #234730 04/08/07 04:22 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,062
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Piasano. playing the air guitar, used to get more notice than that! Sad..........


_ _ _ _ _ _ _________________ _ _ _ _ _ _
But then what do I know, I am but a mere caveman
klcman #234743 04/09/07 05:58 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 4,268
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That was simply amazing....

Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,337
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Wow.

MALIBU #234794 04/09/07 06:33 PM
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 84,397
Marty Offline OP
OP Offline
followup

online chat with the author

I'm going to be answering many dozens of questions in the next hour, but there's one I'd like to pose to you all: With little or no elaboration, more than 100 readers so far have told me that this story made them cry.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/04/06/DI2007040601228.html?hpid=topnews

Marty #234796 04/09/07 07:53 PM
A
Anonymous
Anonymous
A
Fascinating but not mind boggling. What surprises people - that the guy was an excellent musician yet people ignored him, or that he was a well known personality out of his sphere and nobody recognised him? My home town of Oxford hosts a lot of live music and many excellent and famous musicians pass through, a few of them busking in the streets to publicise that evening's offering. Although a few people will stand and listen, the mass of people just walk by. And why not?

#234814 04/10/07 07:00 AM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 3,955
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I agree p2. As a lover of classical music (Mrs. O. is in her 12th year with the Columbus Symphony and we met singing in a Chorus) I can still objectively see how it is an acquired taste.

I'm embarrassed to say I wouldn't recognize a real Renoir from a fake, or taste the difference between Dom and a Cooks brand Champagne.

Does this make me uncultured? Maybe.


I will have a Belikin -- put it on klcman's tab.
#234818 04/10/07 09:41 AM
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 476
C
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C
Originally Posted by pedro2
Fascinating but not mind boggling. What surprises people - that the guy was an excellent musician yet people ignored him, or that he was a well known personality out of his sphere and nobody recognised him? My home town of Oxford hosts a lot of live music and many excellent and famous musicians pass through, a few of them busking in the streets to publicise that evening's offering. Although a few people will stand and listen, the mass of people just walk by. And why not?


It is more sad than surprising. It is not that the guy was famous and not recognized. In fact, if he was recognized that wouldn't have shown anything. To me it just illustrates the whole "stop and smell the roses" mentality versus the whole "rat race" mentality. It just shows that too many people have messed up priorities in todays society and that is immensely sad.

What could be more important than taking 10 minutes to listen to the world's best violin player? Going to see your family, yes, and maybe a handful of other things, but buying smut magazines, lottery tickets, and commuting to work? I would have to say no and I am not a big classical music fan by any means...

From the author:

"We feared only one thing. It was the one thing that WOULD have killed the story. It wasn't that a crowd would gather, but that a crowd would gather not because they found the music beautiful, but because they recognized Bell. That word would go out almost from the beginning, and that what we'd be seeing would not be a test of beauty, but a test of celebrity."

Last edited by ChrisW; 04/10/07 09:47 AM.
ChrisW #234819 04/10/07 09:58 AM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 915
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We've seen many musicians of all stripes playing at subway platforms in Boston and New York. Never have seen anyone really stopping to focus on them.

We were in Oaxaca City in March at the famous Zocalo that had been brutalized by protesters of the government for the preceeding several months, destroying not only the landmarks in the historic center but also the tourism economy. Mexicans whose businesses depend on the tourists were and are in disarray as they tried to survive the loss of income. There were many music venues during our visit, ranging from a lone trombonist to the Guelaguetza folkloric group and the Oaxaca City symphony orchestra in the evenings in the Zocalo. It was wonderful that in any direction one walked, there was music and a polite crowd gathered, watching and listening.

ChrisW #234820 04/10/07 10:00 AM
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,299
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Back in Toronto when I heard a subway musician playing something I liked I used to slow right down (if that is possible lol) and listen to the music. It always put me in a great mood.

I swear I was on Belize time before I got here.

Last edited by tacogirl; 04/10/07 10:02 AM.

San Pedro based Belize Blog since 2007 - great travel resources & discounts https://tacogirl.com/

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