Westsail 32: Kabuki

Getting Ready for our first voyage together.

10 September 2009
07 September 2009
03 September 2009 | Norsand
01 September 2009
27 August 2009
25 August 2009
20 August 2009
18 August 2009
13 August 2009
10 August 2009
05 August 2009 | Whangarei
29 July 2009
18 July 2009 | Home
14 July 2009 | Whangarei
06 July 2009
26 June 2009 | Capitaine Bougainville Theatre
24 June 2009 | Whangarei Library
21 June 2009 | Town Basin

What are we missing?

05 August 2009 | Whangarei
Ponder this , it was emailed to me by a friend. Check out the Washington Post article titled "Pearls for Breakfast"


"Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 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 till 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, as 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. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

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.

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 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real 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:

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 ....

How many other things are we missing? "
Comments
Vessel Name: Kabuki
Vessel Make/Model: Westsail 32 #425
Hailing Port: Whangarei, New Zealand
Crew: Paul Bowling and Wendy Smith
About:
Paul and I have been sailing around Whangarei and the Bay of Islands for the last 14 years. We have owned a few boats in that time, ranging from a 20ft Trailer Sailer to a 36ft New Zealand built Eric Cox design yacht. [...]
Extra: Thought this would be a good way of keeping family and friends up to speed with our progress on getting Kabuki and ourselves ready for the big adventure.

Kabuki

Who: Paul Bowling and Wendy Smith
Port: Whangarei, New Zealand