Monday, March 2, 2009

Pearls before breakfast

Washington D.C., Friday, 7:51 am, subway station entrance. People are in rush to get to work. A homeless guy is playing on violin, an open case is in front of him gaping for money. Nobody stops to listen to him for a long time, not even those few people who throw a coin in the violin case. There is nothing unusual about it, just another Friday morning.



Maybe except one thing. That this guy is playing the most fascinating classical masterpieces. Or that he is holding a $3.5 million Stradivari violin. Or that he is an internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso for who people pay hundreds of dollars to see him playing in live. Only one out of 1097 people has noticed it.

The question is: in our daily, rushing life are we able to recognize the small beauties of life which surround us? And if we are can we stop at least for a moment to admire them? The Washington Post is seeking the answers for these questions in this Pulitzer prize winning article. Quite long, but it's worth reading.

3 comments:

  1. I sent you this one, I sent you :) It was me, it was me!

    Okay, I'm going to switch, push, make myself OFF. :P

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  2. Written as such, this is quite tragical, but a case I have experienced gives me hope this isn't like that all the time.

    Imagine a European capital where two young boys were playing Metallica songs on their celloes - the way that you couldn't stop the chills running down your spine while listening to it. Around them you could see people, around 10 or 20, unable to leave them behind, ending up in a huge applaud after every piece.

    And I don't think that they were famous musicians or their instruments costed more than any other middle-priced cello. They just played. And this was perfectly enough to create magic for a short time...

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  3. wow, and which capital was that?

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