Stop and Hear the Music

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one applauded.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, an American Grammy award winning vioinist and one of the greatest 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised:

• In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
• Do we stop to appreciate it?
• Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…

How many other things are we missing?

(Source: Washington Post)

Peace out!

Facebook is NOT Shutting Down on March 15

The news that Facebook will shut down on March 15 because Mark Zuckerberg finds running the company “too stressful” is false.

It’s a rumor based on a fictitious, satirical story published on WeeklyWorldNews.com, a tabloid-style website best known for such past scoops as “Alien Spaceships to Attack Earth in 2011” and “Megan Fox Is a Man.”

Facebook has become a titan on the internet. While not the money generating giant that Google has become, it does touch more peoples lives than any other single website. Thus personal production within the workspace has been affected by Facebook and the apps that are attached to it.

Facebook was recently crowned the most visited website in 2010, and was valued at $50-billion by Goldman Sachs. Do you really think it’s shutting down? Oh come on.

Seriously, STOP panicking.

Peace out!

Resolution shhmolushen...

screw resolutions.

Peace out!

WELCOME 2011!!

May 2011 be a glorious year for everyone.

Peace out!