[thechat] The youth today...

[Paul Cowan]

Isaac wrote:
> I've seen the same in Thailand. Some contortionists are able to twist
their
> bodies so as to appear to have disfigured limbs. You watch tourists throw
> them money, and then once out of sight, the beggar stands up and walks off
> normally.

There's a busker who plays the bagpipes (badly) outside Flinders Street
Station, the main rail hub of Melbourne, most days.

Some days he's in a wheelchair; some days he ain't. I mean, I know there's
a lot of people who don't need wheelchairs all the time, but trust me,
this guy looks fine when he isn't in it. I think he just wakes up in the
morning and goes "Today, I think I'll have....... no wheelchair!"

Ask anyone in Melbourne, I'm not just being cruel -- I'd wager that of
the 3 million people in Melbourne, probably 2.9 million would know the
guy I'm talking about, and 2.899999 million of them would agree with me.

Of course, the worst bit is, he plays the goddamn *bagpipes*. Don't get
me wrong, oh Scots denizens of thechat, I have no argument with the
bagpipes themselves, but there's only so much poorly-rendered "Scotland
the Brave" one can take.

I'll say this about the bagpipes: like the violin[1] and the recorder [2],
they sound truly terrible until you're very very proficient indeed.

Paul

[1] the violin, badly played, is possibly the worst sound in the world,
    worse even than fingernails-down-blackboard or styrofoam-cups-rubbing-
    together. Unfortunately, the number of people in the world who play
    the violin and DON'T play it badly is exceptionally small.
[2] actually, the recorder ALWAYS sounds awful, I don't care who you are.