Extract from a forward email. I don't encourage forwarding these, as they're just a means for harvesting address for spam... but I thought that this was interesting:
"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.
After 3 minutes a middle- aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
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 noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, 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?
LOST IN LYRICS
"That's all right" by Elvis Presely, was named number on by Rolling Stone's top forty songs that changed the world.
"That's All Right" is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup as "That's All Right, Mama". Elvis' version was recorded in July 1954, and released on 19 July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the B-side.
Born in Forest, Mississippi Arthur Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties. He returned to recording and touring in 1965, sometimes labeled "The Father of Rock and Roll", a title which he accepted with some bemusement.
Ungratified due to the loss of royalties, he would refer to his admirer Presley as 'Elvin Preston'. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the small wages he received as a singer and non-existent royalties.
Crudup returned to Mississippi after a dispute over royalties, then went into bootlegging, and later moved to Virginia where he had lived and worked as a musician and laborer. In the early 1970s, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, both assisted him in attempting to gain royalties he felt he were due, to little gain.
He died in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia in 1974.
Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Crudup
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WHERE’S MY JET-PACK? Technological Revolution
US objects to Google book deal
"The US Justice Department has urged a New York court to reject a deal that would allow internet company Google to publish millions of books online.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8264544.stm
I'm getting pretty scared of Google: they seem to hold too much power and consolidate too much information.
Google book though, sounds like a good idea, a step towards the democratization of knowledge. The books are available in PDF format for you can't cut and post them.
"On October 28, 2008, Google stated that they had 7 million books searchable through Google Book Search, including those scanned by their 20,000 publisher partners.Of the 7 million books, 1 million are "full preview" based on agreements with publishers. 1 million are in the public domain. Most scanned works are no longer in print or commercially available.
In return for having their books online, authors will receive $60 per full book, or $5 to $15 for partial works. In return, Google will be able to index the books and display snippets in search results, as well as up to 20% of each book in preview mode. Google will also be able to show ads on these pages and make available for sale digital versions of each book.
Authors and copyright holders will receive 63 percent of all advertising and e-commerce revenues associated with their works.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/11/google-book-settlement-site-is-up-paying-authors-60-per-scanned-book/
No one really wants to read books on their computer, this technology would only be useful for research and referencing. The publishing industry is on its last legs, so they should be luck to get what they can.
IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME
Ideas and plans that have backfired
Abstinence programs
Chastity rings – picture on wikipedia it looks like a gold ring with five vaginal cavities filled with crosses...
"According to a study carried out on 12,000 young people by Yale University researchers, young people who promise to stay virgin until they marry have the same risks of developing STDs as other young people. Researchers also found that those who took the virginity pledge are more likely to take part in anal sex and oral sex"
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/21606.php
David Bario, a reporter in the Chicago Tribune, Rutland Herald, and several other news websites wrote:
"Under the Bush administration, organizations that promote abstinence and encourage teens to sign virginity pledges or wear purity rings have received federal grants. The Silver Ring Thing, a subsidiary of a Pennsylvania Evangelical Church, has received more than $1 million from the government to promote abstinence and to sell its rings in the United States and abroad."
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050329/NEWS/503290315/1027
ONION RADIO NEWS
"http://www.youtube.com/v/02LgdXVkXgM&hl=en&fs=1&">
BECOME THE MEDIA: Indy-Media Watch
We don’t have to sit on the couch and be force fed reality from the military industrial complex’s marketing arm known as… the mass media. We can create the news agenda and in this section we are going to have a look at alternative sources of information…
https://www.adbusters.org/
NEWS FROM NOWHERE
Ottawa:
Local produce sold here via Ajax
Veggies travel hundreds of kilometres before arriving at city Loblaws
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Local+produce+sold+here+Ajax/2036981/story.html
Ontario:
Man cautioned after prank call to prayer line
BELLEVILLE, Ont. — A man in Belleville, Ont., has been admonished by police after making a prank call to a Texas-based Prayer Line.
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/weird/2009/09/21/11030201.html
Canada:
Lobster aid info hotline actually a sex line
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/canada/2009/09/22/11055946.html
World:
'I can't take it': gaddafi interpreter
"If Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's rambling, podium-hogging speech at the United Nations tried the patience of many UN delegates, spare a thought for his simultaneous interpreter. The Libyan's interpreter managed to hang on for the first 75 minutes of Wednesday's epic before crying: "I just can't take it anymore!" reported the New York Post daily"
www.nationalpost.com/related/links/story.html?id=2036124
AMERICA ON LSD
A Look at our crazy cousins down there south of the border and the results of the End of Empire…
Man sues BofA for "1,784 billion, trillion dollars
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/090925/odds/odd_us_chiscolm
THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
Part of the evolution of humanity is to recognize that all forms of sexuality between consenting adults is normal and natural, which should be celebrated as an intimate part of society not stigmatized.
Transsexualism is a condition in which an individual identifies with a physical sex different from the one they were born with.
For more information contact:
Gender Mosaic (GM) is Canada’s oldest and most established Transgender Support Group, located in Ottawa, Ontario.
http://gendermosaic.ca/
Unfortunately, that's all we had time for but there will be more next week.
Til then, fight the power...
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