Cheeroot's Grotto

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

A man and his beer (can) are never parted

When a realtor tried to enter a townhouse recently, he had trouble opening the front door. There was some sort of blockage which he later discovered was more than 70,000 beer cans, piled nearly to the ceiling. You got to see this to believe it.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the
violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about
45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that
thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to
work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician
playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried
up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw
the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but
the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late
for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged
him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the
mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the
time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents,
without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for
a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He
collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one
noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best
musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever
written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater
in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was
organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about
perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a
commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do
we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected
context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians
in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are
we missing?

Video and audio of the performance are available on the Washington Post website.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Presenting the world's most pathetic dance video

Lo and behold! A funny video clip for your viewing pleasure

The origins of this comedy masterpiece are unknown but I presume that this belongs to some B-grade movie. The dance sequence is ably assisted with some moves that seem vaguely similar to physical training exercises in primary school. The lipsync and sublime expressions are unbelievable... Must be an ultimate frustroo movie (note the gratuitous groping of the actress)

I want to learn this new dance form from the choreographer... Please let me know if any of you find out anything about this movie, actor or choreographer...