Something to think about...

Whikle....noticing lots of beauty in your new avi....very hot lipstick.

 

I see your point but I think there's something to be said about big cities where everyone is rushing to get somewhere but as we have little rays of sunshine like yourself leading us to beautiful things we'll be ok.

 

Aww. Bless you both :smt050

 

to me i don't see it as a big deal.....tbh, most ppl are worried about feeding their families. the washington post, a neoliberal newspaper catering to the rich and elite, would worry about superficial things over more important issues.

 

The point is, he played a sold out show the night before where ticket prices were $100 a pop. The next day he's in the subway and no one takes any notice. People's perceptions of what's worthy of their time and appreciation is skewed. I'm not passing judgement, it's totally normal human behaviour, we all do it.. But that's why it's titled "something to think about".

 

d

it is thought provoking and thanks for sharing, but still different audiences i would say. $ 100 crowd have less to worry about, so they have more time to like those sort of things, classical music etc. if it s mj in his prime, ppl would stop, they do it for celebrities all the time.

 

I don't think that's true at all. And who's to say those people don't catch the train to their inner city jobs?

MJ isn't really a comparison, Terra, and you know it. The point is this guy wasn't an easily recognisable face, but he is a world renowned, acclaimed musician.

 

Thank you for that, Fantastic. Whikle's sad example is one of the reasons I would never be a street artist (unless I was genuinely just out sketching one day in a park or pub or something and even then I'd feel a little self-conscious, but not with a tip jar, no way)... For that reason (perceived value by the mass public, I won't dilute the "value" of my work by renting a booth at a fair or doing caricatures on the sidewalk. Gallery and private commissions only. Although I am thinking of doing a mural, which is a little different and I would already have been paid before I started.

 

got to say that i get so busy and lost in thought at times that i fail to see what is around me. i once walked home from the tram stop and all of a sudden it was like i woke up and i couldn't remember getting to the spot where i was. i crossed a busy highway and a busy street and couldn't remember doing so. it freaked me out.

 

I've done that driving home before too... It's definitely easy to get caught up in your own thoughts.

 

no way the boss takes the company town car......the train is for us working class smucks..:smt043
but you get what i'm saying about taste...speaking of my own preferences, this is the only time i listen to classical is in this form:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGJJH21qkw, and this is more a jazz beat. to me the whole project reaped of smuggness. and he is an acclaimed musician to the rich he performs for, but has no effect on others because it doesn't relate to them. but i bet you if some young singer was singing the national anthem, ppl would stop and listen.

 

Yeah but I do agree with him Terra on this one. In deep economic distress survival is the name of the game. And like I said before in a city where you see things like this on the regualr its easy to dismiss. I'm not sure how many street performers there are in Melbourne but in cities like DC or LA or NY its so incredibly common. How many times do you walk by a score of blue jays chirping before you begin to drown them out no matter how beatiful the song is.

 

:smt102 I think you'll find that many of the types of people you'd find at a concert of his take the train to work. My mum goes to the ballet, opera, symphony orchestra regularly and she takes the train to work every day. It's not even a matter of affording city parking (although it is ridiculously over priced) but there just isn't enough city parking available to accommodate city workers. Not to mention the time wasted in peak hour commute when the train just whizzes past. Trust me, taking the train isn't just for the lower class plebs

 

Damn you're turning me to your argument fam. I do think you're right about the smuggness because who's to say whats beautiful to one should be beautiful to all.

 

I think you're really only proving the point that the article is trying to make. There's so much beauty and talent surrounding us, and most people aren't appreciating it.

 

It was an example! Same shiz happens no matter the performance type or music genre.

 

When everything is beautiful is anything beautiful anymore?

 

Almost $44 an hour? BRB, learning an instrument!

The fact that he's(apparently) a famous musician isn't all that relevant, I'm sure the majority of buskers are talented or they wouldn't do it(not more than a couple of times anyway). We walk past stuff like this because we're used to it and it's unsolicited. Many of us(in the UK at least) are sceptical of anyone asking for money as a result of numerous begging scams and the way busking works tends to park them firmly in the same category(unfairly or not) and this results in people hurrying past, averting their eyes, etc.

 

Yep, we're skeptical/scared/used to it, all those things. It's just something to think about, not suggesting that everyone should stop and watch and appreciate every busker.

I do think buskers are a whole different ball park to beggars though. I even saw a homeless guy on the subway who had a couple of upturned buckets and some sticks and was drumming a beat... he wasn't harassing people to give him money, he was performing for them and I think that effort is worth a buck!

I still think when you're sitting on the train and someone is performing, it doesn't hurt to look up and appreciate them (if you think they're good!). It's not like you're rushing away to somewhere or have something else to do. you're sitting on a train

 

Happens to me all the time. I'll be at the house watching a movie and 5 or 10 minutes will go by but I lose track of the plot and the storyline of the movie because I'm daydreaming about something totally irrelevant. All while my eyes are wide open and looking directly at the TV.

However it is amazing that many of us fail to notice what's right in front of our very own eyes sometimes.