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Thread: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

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    Default Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

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    Our correspondent Vernon Dale Francis Humphrey sent in this photo from the daily commute. Looks like a Kentucky, and I think that is a pretty nice carrying case on his back.

    Strangely enough, we have identified the commuter on the right. Somebody in Chattanooga TN recognized him. The mandolin player is still unidentified.

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    Registered User Bruce Clausen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Did your friend listen to the mandolin player? Talk to him? Ask his permission to shoot a photo and post it on the internet? I hope so.

    If he just snapped a shot from a moving train, I'll be hoping this player can remain anonymous.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Clausen View Post
    Did your friend listen to the mandolin player? Talk to him? Ask his permission to shoot a photo and post it on the internet? I hope so.

    If he just snapped a shot from a moving train, I'll be hoping this player can remain anonymous.
    Bruce, I'm pretty sure he has no right to privacy in a public place on public transportation. With that said, hopefully the people around him enjoyed his playing.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by Simon DS View Post
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    And, how does relate to the thread?
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

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    Registered User Bruce Clausen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Bruce, I'm pretty sure he has no right to privacy in a public place
    Yeah, I know that, Mike. It just seems invasive to post the shot unless the player agreed to it. And I'd have been glad to hear something about how he sounded.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by Charles E. View Post
    And, how does relate to the thread?
    Looks like the shirt the other guy is wearing. But yes, a bit of explanation is good protocol.

    Interesting that he was identified even with a mask, but the mandolinist was not, though fully visible. But then, mandolins and their players are so often overlooked.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    The guy in the mask is actually a FedEx delivery man and has just delivered the mandolin to the player beside him (note that the Fed Ex box at his feet is opened) and had then taken the obligatory photo to prove he had delivered it to the correct location. The player is just testing it out now to ensure there are no immediate problems resulting from the delivery.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Intriguing hypothesis. It causes some discrepancies, however:

    1) The alleged FedEx delivery man is out of uniform. Well-dressed, but still ... ;
    2) The box isn't quite big enough, unless the mandolin were shipped in two pieces and then assembled;
    3) The determination of a delivery address for a recipient on a moving train would be, ah, problematic.

    I know, I am SUCH a killjoy. It's something I've learned to live with. Barely ...
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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by John Kelly View Post
    The guy in the mask is actually a FedEx delivery man and has just delivered the mandolin to the player beside him (note that the Fed Ex box at his feet is opened) and had then taken the obligatory photo to prove he had delivered it to the correct location. The player is just testing it out now to ensure there are no immediate problems resulting from the delivery.
    Nice narrative John.
    Ok, free association time.

    Fat fingers plays Ragtime banjo though his bandmates would rather he played Bluegrass bass.
    He’s also the manager and is texting to say that their new repertoire has arrived, find out more about the poster and ask if the others can bring a proper pair of shoes for the mandolinist.
    Last edited by Simon DS; Jan-28-2023 at 6:38am.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    I'm pretty sure I saw that commuter on the right at a local pub here last November:
    https://ledzepnews.com/2022/11/09/ro...t-in-scotland/
    Bren

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Or: was he really a random commuter, or a Plant?
    Bren

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    So at this point we'll just consider my friend and I fugitives, okay?

    Not only does the guy not have any expectation of privacy, he is actually committing a misdemeanor offense by buskering without a permit. At least I assume. However, since no money is changing hands, the authorities probably don't have much interest.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    I'm thinking that if you are the sort of person who takes out your mandolin on the subway and starts whacking away at it you might not be the shy and retiring sort. If the mandolinist does in fact turn out to be fatally shy I am posting this picture to /r/tooktomuch.

    My friend is not a mandolinist nor a musician. He did not recognize the piece and stated that it sounded "asiatic". I castigated him for not taking a video. The description just whetted my appetite for the music.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    If I'm out in public doing something, such as making music, that brings attention to myself, I don't expect privacy -- especially in the 21st century when nearly everyone carries an easy-to-use camera, and a great many post to the internet. I've found myself online in others' videos and photos. If I were in your place, I wouldn't worry about posting the video. If the mandolin man's hiding from anyone, he's going about it the wrong way. It's many years since I've been to an event where I was told "no recording" let alone "no photographs." (By the way, I've demonstrated my mandolin to curious children while travelling on the transit system.) Thanks for the picture, Rod.
    Last edited by Ranald; Jan-28-2023 at 9:21pm.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    There have been a few times over the years when I have considered playing some while in some sort of public transportation - trains or buses, but never on a plane - and fewer still when I've actually done so. I'm a bit shy, and would rather not call attention to myself - nor bother anyone, for that matter. Not everyone wants to hear music not of their choosing, even if it a rare and special occurrence. My most memorable experience was a couple of years at an airport waiting area, to which I was the first to arrive thanks to a longish time between connecting flights. The gate slowly filled up, and at some point someone started playing music pretty loud on her phone - annoying repetitive music it was, too. I thought about saying something, but I'm not the type to impose on others. So after I'd had enough, I started playing some, instrumentals of various genres. I don't think it made her stop, not for a while, anyway, but at least what I was playing was easier on the ears. I got a few compliments too.

    And yes, I too believe that someone playing an instrument in a situation like this has surrendered his/her rights to privacy. People taking photos and videos of strangers has become commonplace. And people post all kinds of stuff on the web, very little of it with the subject's approval. If you don't want that to happen, don't do anything noteworthy. No worries.
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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by RodCH View Post
    So at this point we'll just consider my friend and I fugitives, okay?

    Not only does the guy not have any expectation of privacy, he is actually committing a misdemeanor offense by buskering without a permit. At least I assume. However, since no money is changing hands, the authorities probably don't have much interest.
    As long as there’s explicit or implicit request for money, it’s not busking. I did a little busking as a street juggler when I was younger and, as long as you’re not blocking foot traffic, performing in public is legal until you pass the hat. I never got busted but there were a couple performances that ended up just being rehearsals
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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    I'm sure you meant to say, "As long as there’s no explicit or implicit request for money, it’s not busking." Little things mean a lot, as they say.

    And it's true. Interdictions address acts of intended commerce, not performance. In this instance, if the player had put his case on the floor, open to catch any donations, that would have been busking. Since it is on his back, that obviates any such intent, so he is free and clear of any untoward allegations.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by Bren View Post
    Or: was he really a random commuter, or a Plant?
    Well, maybe, but that's not the sort he usually plays (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35957976).

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Mandolin: £1800 sold + 25% commissions?
    They should have done it through Zoom on MandolinCafe
    All join in the fun.

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    Default Re: Unknown mandolin player on the BART to Glen Park

    Quote Originally Posted by RodCH View Post
    My friend is not a mandolinist nor a musician. He did not recognize the piece and stated that it sounded "asiatic". I castigated him for not taking a video. The description just whetted my appetite for the music.
    Thanks for giving the background, Rod. From your title I was thinking he was sitting on the platform; now I see he's on the train. Looks like he's sitting quietly on a noisy train, not busking or working the crowd— but of course I wasn't there. In any case I'm glad your friend didn't shoot video. I see a big difference between playing quietly for half a dozen people in an informal setting, and the posting on line of a video that could get 50 million "monetized" views by a photographer who never asked permission. And this can happen nowadays.

    So no cause for complaint in this case.

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