Joshua Bell plays for tips at a subway station.

[dude1394]

Not sure if many folks here have heard of Joshua Bell, but he's a world-renowned violinist. The washington post did a little candid camera action and had him play as a street musician at a subway station..playing his 3.5 MILLION dollar instrument. The article gets a little preachy but it's pretty interesting nonetheless. Both his reaction to not getting acclaim and some of the folks in the crowd.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...040401721.html

HE EMERGED FROM THE METRO AT THE L'ENFANT PLAZA STATION AND POSITIONED HIMSELF AGAINST A WALL BESIDE A TRASH BASKET. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play.
....much continued...

[ocelot_ark]

Wow. That really is quite sad. However, as to not condemn humanity totally, most people are expected in their offices by 8am. But still...quite depressing to see that level of appreciation in one of our nation's cultural hubs. In dallas? I probably wouldn't be surprised at all with this outcome...In washington? That's amazing.

[Usually Lurkin]

This just goes to support my theory that classical music is a lot like dead snails - both are considered good only because people are willing to overpay.

seriously, ocelot is right. I bet Bell would draw a much larger audience if he were in a real lobby or in a park. Great music is worth the time it takes to listen to it, but it's not worth getting fired over.

[dude1394]

Anywhere but in a bus station where you are trying to get from here to there.

Of course if it was a naked woman.....probably be a lot of late folks.

[ocelot_ark]

Depends on the woman.

[chumdawg]

Thanks for posting, dude. One of the best articles I've read in a long time. Not just a good story, but that's a hell of a journalistic piece of work. I don't know who Gene Weingarten is, but now I'd like to find out. There's some serious talent in those hands.

I will share with others.

[ocelot_ark]

That's the truth, Chum. I don't like to read, and that was long, but I read every word. Oh how I'd kill for some investigative ingenuity like that to hit the UofA athletic program. :P

[chumdawg]

Originally Posted by ocelot_ark

That's the truth, Chum. I don't like to read, and that was long, but I read every word. Oh how I'd kill for some investigative ingenuity like that to hit the UofA athletic program. :P

I don't have a lot of patience for reading long pieces online, much like you (print can be a different story, probably owing as much to circumstance as anything else), but that was a highly compelling piece. Extremely well crafted.

Now, I'm afraid what we need for U of Arkansas is not is not Gene Weingarten but something more like Woodward and Bernstein. To hear you tell it, that's a cesspool that runs deep.