Comments on: pearls before breakfast

By: Elise

Elise — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:27:23 +0000

I saw him! I love buskers, and I try to stop when I can, so perhaps I’m not the target audience, but he was particularly good. it’s actually quite rare to see a violinist, so he caught my eye, thought I admit I didn’t do more than slow down a little.

I love all sorts of music, but he still won’t stick in my memory like the blues guitarist at Crystal City who made me cry with an amazingly rich performance of “Ain’t No Sunshine”. Thanks for posting!

By: Lolly

Lolly — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:48:42 +0000

Damned duff links!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hk7w3/Why_Reading_Matters/

By: Lolly

Lolly — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:47:30 +0000

Along similar lines to This Is Your Brain On Music, BBC4 recently showed Why Reading Matters looking at the neuroscience behind reading. As in the verb. Not the town. Reading, like Basingstoke, is highly inconsequential.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:27:37 +0000

I have to admit London tube buskers annoy me. They are way to loud for a small tunnel which has 10,000 people trying to get through it. it seems quality does not count as long as your amp has 11 on it as the volume level (name that film!).

The singers in Covent Garden though on the streets are much better.

Cheers
Rob

By: JP Morgan Jr

JP Morgan Jr — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:12:11 +0000

Sorry no photos. No cameras were allowed. No mobile phones either. We couldn’t even wear pants. Wait until you see the footage…

By: Aaris

Aaris — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:42:17 +0000

If your in a very musical mood the movie August Rush is really good

By: Lolly

Lolly — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:14:37 +0000

Excellent. Duff link, apparently.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/attentionlost.html

By: Lolly

Lolly — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:12:52 +0000

Siobhan, I too generally have my headphones firmly in place when navigating from place to place. Since reading this article, and one on Wired about attention loss due to digital overload, I haven\’t had the heart to. I think I\’ll keep my media grazing to a minimum for fear of missing out on something, if not a virtuoso performance of J.S. Bach but perhaps my ability to concentrate and think creatively.

By: Siobhan

Siobhan — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:37:21 +0000

This article was so interesting to read, and you do find yourself wondering how you would have reacted if you were there.
I always have my ipod firmly plugged into my ears going to and from work so guessing I’d have missed the whole thing…

By: Mortitia Devine

Mortitia Devine — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:00:50 +0000

When I used to work in London, despite all the mad rush that goes on in the underground, I used to love it when from the deep in the bowels of the underground, some beautiful music would come drifting up through the levels. It would sometime seem like the musician was completely invisable and that I was the only one who could hear or see them as more often than not, the other 100′s of people would be more interested in getting home, rather than just stopping for a second to be moved by the beauty of music. Two weeks ago I was in London with my 8yr old daughter and we came accross a musician playing the violin in a subway by the Natural History Museum, and my daughter was moved by the music. We were the only people who stopped and just let the world go by – moments like that are very moving, if you allow them happen!

It has never ceased to amaze me how maybe just 4 or 5 notes played on the piano, at the right point in a film, can reduce you to tears. Music is amazing and has the ‘power’ to make you cry, relax, motivate, scare or even make your body move in a way you didn’t know it could.

Derren, I hope The Event continues to go well. The venue looks beautiful on the photos.