Don't let go of moments of joy

[willoweyes]

They announced the winners of the Pulitzer yest., and the story of the Feature winner was extraordinary.

Gene Weingarten, a feature writer for the Washington Post, was walking through the Washington Metro at rush hour, when he noticed a very good violinist playing for pennies and being mostly ignored.

"Gee," Weingarten wondered, "What would happen if we got a real World Class violinist to play here--would anybody notice?"

Long story short Wengarten gets Joshua Bell to play in the Metro at Rush Hour, and "he didn't leave anything in the hotel room," as they say; he played his heart out.

First of all, Weingarten expected that among the "sophisticated" Metro crowd, many would recognize Bell. Only one person did.

Only seven people stopped to listen for longer than a minute. One man, a Mr. Peccorello, realized he was seeing something extraordinary.

Mr. Peccorello had wanted to be a classical violinist in his youth, but had left those dreams behind. He stood listening to Mr. Bell for nine minutes, then rather humbly deposited $5 in Mr. Bell's violin case, and left.

"There were people tossing pennies at Joshua Bell," Weingarten said in his interview on All Things Considered. "Nothing could wake them out of their stupor, they were passing by something beautiful; something they will never see again."

Don't let that happen to you, folks!

[bopes]

Those DC-area philistines!

If he had played in the NYC subways he would have drawn huge crowds! [nods smugly to effete, latte-sipping provincial snob self.] :)

[sidecross]

What a great post willoweyes; it demonstrates that most people are sleep walking.

[willoweyes]

Dear Bopes! I am so embarrassed! I would have never made fun of you being black if i knew you were wite.

the thing is, racism is alive and doing well in amerika. and anyone who says different is wrong.

[bopes]

no worries, Willow, I am not offended. (I can't speak for my black brethren and sistren, though! :p )

Subtle nuances of tone and inflection do not translate well on the internets. :o That's why we have to rely on these stupid-assed emoticons. ;)

Meanwhile, what the hell did I miss on 04-05-2008 at 04:39 PM.? According to the little thingy down in the lower left corner of the forum list, that's when the most users ever (273) were online. Yet I sensed no disturbance in the force at that time. I must have been napping.

[sidecross]

I saw that too; it just proves you can not believe everything you read on the internet.

[Isaiah Mpski]

..do you think we can conqueor the world with the internet?
Of course.And it will be done by those who do things the way the founding fathers thought but with today's tools.

Transmigration.Cosmic Consciousness
Topics we all shared over an open fire in the woods by the pond with Emerson threaoughly engrossed.:hmm:

Bpoes why do you think James Monroe created Liberia?:eek:

[bopes]

just curious, Isaiah. By any chance, do you have Tourrettes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqtr_RvR3sY)?

[Isaiah Mpski]

Sometimes.
You didn't answer my question Bopes.

I know the obvious answer of course but what do you think James Monroe saw in your genetic disposition to send you back home.
Obviously it wasn't basketball and it wasn't brains,unless of course they were in your beautiful women..

Your friend

[suebee]

speaking of stopping to smell the roses, has spring sprung east of me yet? the colors have turned mostly green here, tender new leaves, light filtering through them at sunset so the trees look afire. it is heavenly.

yeah bopes i recall your post about racist graffitti on your car...then later you said you were a white guy. i personally dont give a hoot. i am really a man. :p

[craazyman]

Bopes, I'm totally confused and I suspect the board is too. The question still unanswered is: Are you a black man or just another white guy with a tan?

I think we need to have an official answer so everyone can once again relax and concentrate on matters of consciousness and political invective.

For an official determination of this most pressing question, we will need to call in the experts. Please mail a hair sample for analysis to:

attn: Profiling Survey
Dr. Reginald O. B. Whitelaw, Chairman Emeritus
Institute for a Free and Fair Society
The New Center for Contemporary American Anthropology
Yale University School of Political & Social Studies
Yale College
Yale University
38 University Heights
New Haven, CT 91837

Please enclose $25 for shipping and handling.

Dr. Whitelaw is an African American of impeccible credentials who once voted Republican in a local election. His discretion and accuracy is assured in this matter and in all other matters that come before his department. He will be a fair arbiter of this pressing question.

As you may know, Yale has a long and relatively undistinguished history (sorry, I meant "distinguished") of pointing out the racial differences that differentiate one chicken-eating and black tar shitting American from another. They are well endowed (financially) for this important task and their laboratory tests will not fail to distinguish genuinely black skin from suntanned suburban nice little white boy skin or even shoe polish coated native American skin. So don't even think of trying to fool them.

[bopes]

Ahem. Attention, attention. Is this thing on? [taps microphone. feedback from microphone.]

For the record, according to Isaiah I am a black man who was sent by James Monroe to Liberia, for reasons not related to basketball, my brains or beautiful brainy women.

Everyone else who knows me thinks I am white, including my germanic Lutheran father (rest in peace) and my Irish Catholic mother (I know, I know, I have to call her soon) and my thirteen (exaggeration) siblings, all of whom, last I checked, were also white, and my sixty-eight (at last, exaggerated count) nieces and nephews, not to mention my wife and kid. Personally, objectively, I agree with that assessment. To put that in perspective, I am probably whiter and uglier than Conan O'Brien. I have to use SPF 700, with bug repellent, every time I even think about exposing my pale, pimply white flesh to the elements, even in winter.

Isaiah will no doubt insist that I can't fool him, and that I am just an albino black man masquerading as a caucasian. He will tell me to go back to Liberia, where James Monroe sent me for reasons unrelated to basketball, my brains or beautiful brainy women.

I suppose anything's possible . . .

suebee -- so THAT's where this all started! The racist grafitti on the car? LOL. Ah the tangled web . . . BTW, I KNEW you were a man (NOT!).

to willow (below): oh sure. Metaphorically, spiritually, subjectively, etc. and all that.

[willoweyes]

there was a song on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack, I don't know who it was by, but it was some righteous babe that could belt it out; anyway, i think the song might be "Rock and Roll Nigger"

A vaguely remembered line: "Jimi Hendrix was a nigger, Jesus Christ and Grandma, too!!"

I'm contacting my inner girlfriend frequently lately, and she's real dark and she's got a sassy mouth. Her forebeareres weren't no house negroes!

didn't one of the essays kindly posted here by some generous soul say something about getting in touch with your inner black man?

We are all one kind, in many pieces.

[Isaiah Mpski]

CM,methinks you're keeping yourself well medicated.
As we all should,

SueBee this time of the year is the time of thunderboomers toronados hail stones the size of baseballs and yes,everything is turning quickly overnight.
We have a couple of acres of Austrian winter peas that made it through the winter and should produce soon.
Of course there are several local 'weeds" from one could find adequate nourishment with the influx of a rabbit ,deer,or turkey ocassionally,if you wanted to completely live off the land.I'm sure there are some onions and carrots out there too..

We really need to start producing our own ethanol and wine.
You could be in charge of that department if you didn't want to practice law.

Me,I'm into putin up 20 or so windmills and establising a power or utility company.We have the perfect place for several large wind generators and I understand there are several philanthropists in China who would graciuously give a persecuted minority like me money to realize our dreams.I think I appointed you to that task several months ago CM.I have royalties in both oil and gas wells.I have one well in Carter county i would give you to take care of the contact work and the aforementioned tasks.To tell you the truth CM.Despite being geneticlly linked to those people,I'm kinda afraid of them.

Electricity=liquid fire-will fuel the void cause by the increase cost of oil.We can produce that real well here on our one mile of lakefront with Interstate 40 running through the south part of it.We need the money or the Hummer Wind Machine(company that produces wind machines in China) donated to US by a philanthropist somewhere.

a brain damaged American Indian

[kinkaka]

They announced the winners of the Pulitzer yest., and the story of the Feature winner was extraordinary.

Gene Weingarten, a feature writer for the Washington Post, was walking through the Washington Metro at rush hour, when he noticed a very good violinist playing for pennies and being mostly ignored.

"Gee," Weingarten wondered, "What would happen if we got a real World Class violinist to play here--would anybody notice?"

Long story short Wengarten gets Joshua Bell to play in the Metro at Rush Hour, and "he didn't leave anything in the hotel room," as they say; he played his heart out.

First of all, Weingarten expected that among the "sophisticated" Metro crowd, many would recognize Bell. Only one person did.

Only seven people stopped to listen for longer than a minute. One man, a Mr. Peccorello, realized he was seeing something extraordinary.

Mr. Peccorello had wanted to be a classical violinist in his youth, but had left those dreams behind. He stood listening to Mr. Bell for nine minutes, then rather humbly deposited $5 in Mr. Bell's violin case, and left.

"There were people tossing pennies at Joshua Bell," Weingarten said in his interview on All Things Considered. "Nothing could wake them out of their stupor, they were passing by something beautiful; something they will never see again."

Don't let that happen to you, folks!

Well aide from the money factor involved in having to stop i.e. most folk would feel uncomfortable listening without giving , or acting out of accord to the chaos around them .

Same thing happens when someone gets attacked or hald dying I heard, people just ingore too , so i think beauty is not the factor ..

[willoweyes]

Yes, it's not about beauty, it's about moneymoneyrushrush? I don't know what.

Yesterday was such a beautiful evening here, and the cars rushed by, rushed by, and I was thinking about this article, and I thought, G-d HimHerself is playing the violin here tonight, and who is listening?

oh its the Bardo of complete misunderstanding. even a prayer of 49 days will not wake some souls.

[kinkaka]

Yes, it's not about beauty, it's about moneymoneyrushrush? I don't know what.

Yesterday was such a beautiful evening here, and the cars rushed by, rushed by, and I was thinking about this article, and I thought, G-d HimHerself is playing the violin here tonight, and who is listening?

oh its the Bardo of complete misunderstanding. even a prayer of 49 days will not wake some souls.

No there is only one thing that wakes any one up and that is Death..

And wars or faminine or any of those wide scale apocalyptic scenarios usually is what presses the reset button as it has done before .

The thing is most folk invest so much into what they believe it gets to a point where they really cant afford not too because its already too late for them to undo whats happened.. kinda like in Return of the Jedi before VADER takes Luke to the Emperor.. its was only Death that changed that i.e. his sons at hands of Palpatine..

Until theres currency for love or energy that goes beyond material objects or at least material objects that dont enhance any one beyond appreciating what they already have the endless race of humanity selling out humanity and ultimately the world will go on.

But when or if that will happen in time to change anything is crapshoot now at best , I just hope after my stint here Im not back to see the coming horrors that await..

Right now Im bit ashamed to be human ..

[drew hempel]

http://www.cs.org/publications/csq/csq-article.cfm?id=1658