Posted on 08/22/2005 6:06:57 AM PDT by wjersey
Dear ordinaryguy,
Just as some might be prone to exaggerate his talent, perhaps others are inclined to minimize it.
Without the reporting of someone with some real background in music (or getting to hear a recording of his actual play), I'm not sure we can realistically judge his talent or proficiency.
My best guess is that the fellow probably took piano lessons as a youth and can bang out a modest set of pieces with modest competence and talent. That would place him in about the same place as many or most of us who took a few years or more of music lessons in our youth.
That he's only 20 means that he's chronologically closer to those lessons than many of us, and thus, has had less time to see whatever level of proficiency he may have once had deteriorate.
sitetest
And the man says, yeah, it was a magic lamp, but it's broken. So the bartender says, "Can I give it a try?" and the guy says "Sure."
So the next thing you know, all these ducks are walking around the bar, and the bartender says, "Hey this thing really is broken. I asked it for a thousand bucks and it looks like I got a thousand ducks."
Honestly, I would tend towards the report of the chaplain, since it is the only quote I've seen. The other reports were either entirely devoid of quotes, or were suspiciously careful to weave the claims around piano-related quotes containing no indication of playing ability. If the reporter made it up, they at least went through the trouble of making up a name to go along with it.
It sure sounded like a scam. Wonder if he'll write a book or sell the rights for a movie?
Two guys (large or small) walk into a bar,.............the second one shoulda ducked.
Maybe the bartender wouldn't share his ducks?
New on FOX, The Asylum. 10 people are placed in an insane asylum. 9 are ordinary people but one is a real insane Axe murderer.
Hmmm, is that FOX or Fox News? Hard to tell the difference these days between the two networks, with FNC's 24/7 coverage of Natalee Holloway, the cruise ship guy murder mystery, the mystery of the pizza bomber, etc.... :-(
Or his grapes..................
Dear ordinaryguy,
I've read about a half-dozen articles in recent weeks, and I have seen a couple of quotes. The quotes that I saw indicated that the fellow could bang out a variety of tunes ranging from Lennon to Tschaikovsky.
sitetest
Dear nuconvert,
I suspect that he's had his 15 minutes of fame.
Like others have commented, it would have been a lot more interesting if the fellow really had been a virtuoso.
sitetest
You are kidding, right? (With modern 'culture' it's hard to tell)...
Hey. This is remarkably close to the storyline in an English movie I saw a few weeks ago starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith -- spinster sisters who find a half-drowned and broken young man washed up on their private beach on the west coast of England before WWII. He turns out to be a virtuoso violinist from "Latvia?". Actually I don't remember where he was from, but the only language they could find to communicate was German. I've forgotten the name of the movie, but you may still find it playing in art film houses. It's well done, if you like English movies.
Remarkably close.
Dear afraidfortherepublic,
Interestingly, though, it appears from these reports that he picked up on the piano theme spontaneously.
I'm not sure he had it all planned out at the beginning.
Perhaps he was just looking for a vacation abroad financed by the British government. ;-)
sitetest
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.