June 14, 2006
A More Entertaining Metro Commute Ahead?
Metro is changing, and dramatically. Beyond the possibility of new railcars sometime in the future and a recently announced pilot program of retail kiosks within stations, WJLA (by way of the Examiner) is reporting that Metro may soon be just a little more entertaining:
Metro officials are proposing a new program to bring musical acts, theater and possibly circus performers into the transit system.It's almost like Metro's just not itself anymore. If this plan proceeds forward, gone will be the days when Metro stations both looked and felt like cathedrals. In its place will be a transit system that has become just a little bit more lively, a little more inspiring for those of us making the daily slog to and from work.
Of course, the proposal begs the question -- who would we want to see perform in area Metro stations? Readers, have at it.
Picture snapped by JamesCalder
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We should start off with a D.C original - GO GO!
let's have kids pounding on white buckets.
-Chinese acrobats
-Tom Delay dunk tank
-a Wesley Willis type (check Galaxy Hut)
-Flip Orly ("When you wake up, you will move to the right hand side of of the escalator")
Metropolitan, of course.
No, an actual, rehearsed Go Go band. Have a mix of genres for crissake. Does it need to be all whitewashed for your listening pleasure?
Begs the question != raises the question.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/begs.html
Those kids who play in Dupont are pretty damn good...
Is there really room on the platforms for this? And aren't the acoustics in the stations just terrible? And how do you spell acoustics?
I say, with the on-going effort of many to boycott Nissan Pavilion, the city diverts those acts into the Metro system and away from that horrible, horrible venue.
Only if they tone down the volume that normally accompanys the horn players who sit outside Metro stations now. I for one don't want to be deafened every time I step off a train or into a station.
Josh - It depends on the station. There is most certainly room in many stations, especially at the ends of the platforms when the escalators are in the middle of the platform, or unused portions of the mezzanine level.
I don't think the acoustics are that bad in the stations. When the speakers are working and the person speaks clearly, it isn't difficult to hear announcements.
Cheers for busking! We could use a little entertainment ... I mean, hell, it's take people's minds off the other woes of the system.
Jenna Jameson
For something both entertaining and informative, I recommend recaps of DC City Council meetings performed by drag queens and kings. I'm sure someone out there does a mean Carol Schwartz.
The acoustics in there would be great for a boys' choir. And if the spot is near an elevator, I've got an organ that would sound pretty cool. I would be wary of anything involving a snare drum, though.
I'm thinking that David Blaine strapped to the top of an Orange Line train as it speeds by would be pretty cool. Circus acts (other than clowns and jugglers) might be a tight fit on some platforms so maybe the Metro powers-that-be should put some more thought into that one. Mimes would be good if there were some kind of lottery to see which rider got to push them out onto the rails.
Pole dancers inside the cars would be certain to draw a crowd during the off peak hours.
For real fun could Metro force members of the House and Senate to ride the trains and listen to voters bitch about the way they run the country? That might be a good way to pass the time.
TC
How am I to keep a look out for 'sumspitous'packages when I am reading the express and listening to the entertainers on the platform? JCH
Puppetry of the Penis and Slipknot would make for a very interesting commute. Only to be outdone by a combo concert of Yanni and Zamphir. Maybe since they're getting rid of some lights on the platform they can add whack-a-mole.
Washington Improv Theater gets my vote.
http://www.washingtonimprovtheater.com/
During rush hour? Ugh.
And bravo to those board members who say they won't support it if Metro would be paying for it.
The entertainment should be unique to the neighborhood that the station serves. As an example, Metro should release a bunch of monkeys in the Woodley Park station. Wearing Metro uniforms and caps, of course.
Why should anyone pay for it? The whole point of busking is to get the audience to pay for it.
It does seem odd to think about buskers on Metro platform, though. Yet, they seem quite at place in a NYC platform. I wonder why that is? Maybe DC people are less comfortable watching someone perform in front of a crowd.
whitney and bobby.
I think I would like to see a mime imitating people during rush hour. I would even consider paying for it with my smartcard.
We want to see gabber in the metro system.
Because it would make people cry. And the suicide of others on our 8am commute to our otherwise dull jobs, perks us up.\
But I second the motion for Go-Go on a serious note. It would be cool and you can play it off of the back of paint buckets. We need more dancing on trains.
Every other week there is a lengthy rant about the frustrating trudge through metro behind some slow tourists or about losing five seconds because someone won't walk on the left, and there is this much support for creating a spectacle which will grind things to a halt? Metro is a mode of transportation, not a destination. Put the performers at street level metro station entrances and let people decide to stop and watch or keep going.
good lord, if i had to hear heinous sounds on my commute before i have had my morning coffee,
i may just jump off the platform as the 'tro is arriving.
people of the metro: please, no.
Yikes, that's not the correct usage of "begs the question." "To beg the question" is the fallacy of using circular logic for an argument, and not begging to be asked.
I used to battle over the usage of "begs the question" as well. But, over time, I started to enjoy the image of a situation "begging" to have questions "raised" about it--"begging" being such an evocative, active verb as opposed to the vague and passive "raised." After all, ALL questions are "raised." "Raises the question" is pure logorrhea.
So, here's my letter to Professor Strangelove, M.A. Grammar Obscuranta:
"Dear Sir:
W/R/T "Begging the question," I have, simply put, learned to stop worrying about it, and now treat the old-school "begs the question" with the slangy neologism "begs the question" as homonyms. That particular stick, formerly rectally inserted, made excellent kindling.
Love,
Me."
DCist Jason, in that case, I think you may mean "beg FOR the question," as one cannot directly beg a question for something, though one can beg a situation for a question.
Perhaps. At any rate, I've learned to stop worrying about it.
No. Just no. I already have to dodge city council candidates, poll takers, falun gong protesters, panhandlers, and all manner of other distractions to get on the train every morning.
Apparently to perform in the Paris Metro, buskers have to audition and be accepted, thus ensuring higher quality. Gives a certain respectability to them, I suppose.
Nicely done, BTO!
Please, dear God in the heavens above, no.
I'm imagining an exponential increase in 'burbanites in MomJeans and sleeveless button downs dancing around their circle of strollers entertaining babies whilst I try to make my train.
Who the Hades is running Metro these days? Laura Bush???
As a former DC busker (I spent a couple of months about 6 or 7 years ago playing acoustic guitar and singing mostly train songs), I would NOT support having buskers on the actual platforms. The platform areas aren't large enough, and they get way too crowded at rush hour. Plus, I wouldn't look forward to competing with the noise of the trains coming into the stations.
However, I would LOVE to see approval from the Metro board to let buskers legally perform in the station entrance areas (which are, by the way, generally nice acoustics). I remember a particularly nasty transit cop who would continually chase me out of the above-ground levels of McPherson Square & Farragut West even though I wasn't causing any traffic jams. I found a couple of busking havens - the courtyard of the Dept of Transportation at L'Enfant Plaza has a fine acoustic, and is just a few steps from Metro property; and the walkways outside of the Federal Triangle station are also winners.
On the payment issues, I think there would be plenty of musicians and performing artists who would be willing to work for tips. I say no to the audition process - busking can be a good way for someone to learn to deal with stage fright. Really, all the board needs to do is instigate a peace treaty between the buskers and the transit cops agreeing to leave the buskers alone as long as they're on the top side of the escalators and not impeding traffic flow.
Freight train, freight train, run so fast....