Much as I love you all, if you think I’m going to share an idea with any of you thieving writers, you’re daft.
You are just now figuring that out?
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Story About Nothing (#001)
Word Count : 0
Nothing count: indefinitely large
I think I am starting to get the hang of it. --g
Alright GR! for seeing the light!
All these absinthe addled brained authors could not help but write about SOMETHING rather than nothing proving to the world that they have plenty to write about if they so chose to do so.
Practicing restraint and writing about nothing is like being equal to “golden silence” or taking a break.
Remember that a “show about nothing” was once a huge success.
My favorite nothings to write about would be the not so imaginary conversations between the daughditer and her friends, my son (who I need to give a much better designation to) and his Legos, and anything that involves a cat and snort (which infallibly turns into nap time).
Not that I do this much. I use it more just to see if my skills* are getting better. I set out with a goal unrelated to the work and frame a few questions to see if I succeeded. Then I ask others to read the piece and answer the questions.
• Did I tell you how it was or paint you a picture?
• What do you remember about?
• Do they want to read another?
• Do I need the services of a lawyer or undertaker since this was about you dear?
Which i guess means that I did not write about “nothing”. Interesting turn of logic there. Darn you.
[size=70]* and by skills I mean my ability to replace ipecac with written words to save poison control some dollars[/size]
A few years ago, a silent piano recital was given in a packed out London Auditorium.
I don`t recall whether or not the pianist recieved a silent standing ovation. 
vic
The first such – though I’m not sure if it’s the one you’re referring to – a full length recital on a piano with no strings was given during or just after WWII in the Victoria and Albert Museum (I think, though it may have been the National Gallery) in London, by one Gabor Cossa, of Hungarian origin, who in the 1960s had an antiques shop in Trumpington Street in Cambridge, more or less opposite Peterhouse, my alma mater. I got to know him slightly, and he directed a performance of “The Government Inspector” by a very short lived resurrection of the Peterhouse Dramatic Society. I had a six-word line in the very last scene!
Mark
Mark,
The recital I`m referring to took place about ten or fifteen years ago. Try as I did at the time, I could find no evidence in the reporting of the event, to confirm my belief it was a piece of performance art or a pisstake. 
Then again, Pierre Boulet packs em in, but the more I listen to his stuff:
scena.org/blog/2008/03/today … ch-26.html
the more I can hear Danny Kay singing The King is in the all together:
youtube.com/watch?v=51Ve_aqkyHg.
By the way, there are a number of ex thespians on board Scriv.
Have you taken in any of the Olympic events?
Take care
Vic
Hmm … the sad thought that occurs to me is that whoever it is that you are remembering would probably have claimed (a) that it was performance art, and (b) that they were being highly original. Gabor Cossa, as I remember, said that he did it fully tongue in cheek as a take on audience reaction … though, of course, not quite in those words.
And as for the King being in the altogether, the only time I have written to The Times was when Tracy Emin was asked to decorate the christmas tree in the entrance to the Tate Gallery. The result, as reported by The Times, was no tree but a hand-written postcard saying “Christmas Tree”. I suggested that this was the ultimate proof that Brit Art was the latest version of the Emperor’s New Clothes. Needless to say, my letter was not published.
As for the Olympics, given that I’m back in Britain for the summer, what I’ve taken in is what we saw over the weekend down at daughter’s in Exeter … she and boyfriend are avid sports watchers. I think I’m glad to be out of China at this moment, much as I love being there. In 2000 at the time of the Sydney Olympics, I had just started work at Xiamen TV Station, and there was a huge – for the time – TV Set placed right opposite my desk. That was the first time China started garnering rather large numbers of medals, so I quickly learnt how to say “Gold Medal” in Chinese and grew heartily tired of the Chinese national anthem. My colleagues were bouncing joyously round the office at each medal ceremony – because Chinese TV, needless to say, concentrated on the sports at which they were excelling – and my poor pickings at the time came down to (Sir, now) Steven Redgrave who was the only one of the British competitors that they really couldn’t avoid taking note of.
Being over here, this last few days, of course, it has been all cycling, sailing, rowing … at which we have done pretty well.
Mark
Vic, are you by any chance thinking of John Cage’s 4’33"? It’s been performed many times, including by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Perhaps Gabor Cossa should have sued Cage for plagiarism, but he was a wacky old character who saw the funny side of life and would perhaps have considered himself ridiculous had he done so.
Mark
Antony,
It wasnt the Cage piece. It was definately billed as, 'A Silent Piano Recital'. Like Marks Gabor Cossa,
This guy actually played the piano!! Gave a recital. I even wondered if it was the guys manual dexterity the audience had come to marvel at.
An image has just popped into the old cranium, of one of those ‘A’ shaped little billboards that shops place one the sidewalks, advertising their wares. A photo in the paper showed it outside the venue, inviting passers-by to enter. Reportage of the event told of enthusiastic applause, when it was over. But no indication of tongue-in-cheekery. It had to be an exposition of Public Gullibility. Or… mischievous complicity
As for cage: I can buy most of the sentiments hes expressing in the following Utube interview. Ive even tried to used the powerful impact of silence, in the Psycho Thread, f gawd sake. But!! ask yourself whats going through the Conductors mind. in the Utube performance below. Dont tell me he isn`t thinking, “This is the longest four minutes ever!”
youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E
youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS … re=related
Take care
vic
When there are fiction writers (or old antique dealers) about one never knows where the garden path begins. This sounds suspiciously like a sly mash-up of this Gabor
http://gaborcossa.com/index.html
and this (unrelated) Gabor
http://www.gabor-pianos.co.uk/
Someone is pulling my leg. I just can’t figure out who.
–Greg
P.S. The suggested timing of the Gabor event corresponds roughly to the premier of Cage’s 4’33" – albeit not at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Gregoeryvitch, Old Fruit,
I assure you, I kid you not! A Silent Piano Recital took place as I have described, to the best of my recollection.
Marks Gabor, is obviously quite renowned, and its probably Cossas [i]old shop[/i] in newer hands, that youve brought up on Google.
tomroper.typepad.com/tr/2006/02/p_d_q_bach.html
As for silent pianos, theyre everywhere!!! Youll probably even find one under the raspberry bush at the bottom of your garden!
youtube.com/watch?v=vnU9Stc5 … re=related
youtube.com/watch?v=BS87pL1JHGs&NR=1
Nobody is conning anyone, but it does go to show, ‘Life`s weirder than fantasy’…init! 
Vic
Ah, but it was not your remembered piano recital to which I referred, but Mark’s post-WWII Gabor Cossa silent piano performance.
Dude, I have one!
–Greg-k
P.S. Interesting tidbit of corroboration though from the Tom Roper blog, except that he is back off of something in the entry update–though it is not clear what.
Please note the section that has been marked in bold. i believe we can now see the problem.
I wrote some extensive lyrics that can be sung when playing the stringless piano
Here they are
GR, I’m not a fiction writer, and I’m afraid to say I’m also of Vic-K’s age. That is indeed Gabor Cossa’s antiques shop in Trumpington Street, but my reference is to a time long before it must have been sold to David Theobald (17 years ago, i.e. around 1990). I was a student at Peterhouse from '64 to '68, at which time the owner of the shop was the eponymous Gabor Cossa, who was into his 60’s at least at the time.
Mark
Edit …
You will also find mention of him and Cambridge at the same time by Sir Ian McKellen in mckellen.com/stage/r2/words.htm
and in
Wow, my post must have been very unclear. I never doubted that Gabor Cossa owned an antique shop just as you said (after all, you say you knew him in that connection). What I was raising a question about was whether he really performed a silent piano piece just after WWII.
When I saw vic-k’s rememberance at the top of this thread, I too thought immediately of John Cage’s piece, but before his name came up, you posted this intriguing historical item. Just the sort of curiosity to attract my attention. When the big Google hits I came up with included 1) the man’s antique shop, and 2) a “Gabor Silent Piano” outfit named after a quite different Gabor,* I started to think someone was having a laugh here. Maybe it was you (this proved false), or just maybe Gabor Cossa was having you on back in the day. Who knew?
So, in short, I didn’t think to doubt your story about the guy you knew. Just wondered if the story the guy told you was true.
–Greg
P.S. In round two, I also found record of some archived, music-related correspondence from a Gabor Cossa in 1943-46 at which time it seems he was writing on behalf of an outfit called the Ballet Jooss.
- You’ve got to admit that is a really weird coincidence.