You never know who that subway musician might be …

by Annie Scott on


“Real Good for Free” is a classic Joni Mitchell song (thanks henhenstoll on YouTube for posting this BBC version).

The song is a ballad about Joni seeing a talented musician on the street “playin’ real good for free” and no one paying any attention to him, when she gets fancy hotels and concert halls, and how strange that is. It’s a beautiful song about the guilt that can come with success.

Well, The Washington Post put the song’s principle to the test. They had world famous violin legend Joshua Bell play at L’Enfant Plaza Station in Washington, D.C. at rush hour to see what would happen.

They even asked Leonard Slatkin, music director of the National Symphony Orchestra what he thought would happen, and Slatkin said:

“Let’s assume that he is not recognized and just taken for granted as a street musician . . . Still, I don’t think that if he’s really good, he’s going to go unnoticed. He’d get a larger audience in Europe . . . but, okay, out of 1,000 people, my guess is there might be 35 or 40 who will recognize the quality for what it is. Maybe 75 to 100 will stop and spend some time listening.”

Slatkin said that a crowd would gather and the musician would make $150.

The results, as you might guess: He made $34. Nobody really paid much attention except a child, and even those who did drop a dollar in his case barely stopped walking to do so. Sorry Mr. Slatkin, busy people, even classical music lovers, barely hear the street musicians on our way to work. And it’s very sad.

This actually took place about a year ago, but the article is still worth a read, and makes you think twice about how well you appreciate what’s around you.

Thanks, Michael C., for the tip on this experiment by The Washington Post.

Budget Travel: Minneapolis, Minnesota

by Josh Lew on


Minneapolis. What comes to mind? Prince’s purple jumpsuit, Francis McDormand’s accent in the movie Fargo, the Mall of America and six months of winter.

Perhaps the larger of the Twin Cities (Saint Paul being the smaller) is not on the tourist map, but it often gets props for being a nice place to live. (Forbes called it most affordable city to live well. The Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth was rated the best place to live by CNNMoney).

So it’s a fine place to live. But why visit?

First, there is the food…then the live music, the art, the coffee shops, and, of course, the fact that Minneapolis is second only the New York in number of theater seats per capita.

Bring your coat (and if your ears are delicate, a hat as well) during the winter, but don’t expect ice fishing weather from April to October. That is when the city’s lakes, trails, and outdoor events make it a budget traveler’s dream destination.


Get In
It will soon be cheaper to fly to Minneapolis. Southwest will be launching flights to and from Chicago Midway in March. From Chicago, you can get a connection to any city in the US that Southwest flies. That will drive down airfares to MSP, once a stronghold of Northwest. Names like Megabus, Greyhound and Amtrak are also players in the transit game. Minneapolis sits in the cross-hair made by Interstates 35 and 94. It is reachable by car in a day from virtually anywhere in the Midwest.

Getting Around
The bus and train system is better than average for a mid-sized city, but still far from perfect. This is a driving city, especially if you want to take advantage of outdoor activities. Summer is bicycling weather and most of the urban destinations are within pedaling distance of one another. Buses and the new light rail system both allow bikers to bring their wheels on board.

What to do
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is free every day and often holds special events and exhibits. The nationally famous Walker Art Museum has free admission on the evening of the first Thursday of every month (with plenty of events and activities on offer). The adjacent sculpture garden is open year round, but is mainly a summertime attraction. The Como Zoo (actually in Saint Paul) does not charge for entry and is known for its polar bears and penguin exhibit. It is also free to peruse the art galleries in the growing hipster hot-spot of Northeast Minneapolis (Nordeast).

Theater prices can vary greatly. The Orpheum and Guthrie put on world-class stage productions, but tickets are highly priced unless you luck out in the rush line. There are plenty of other professional theaters and live music venues. These vary in size from a few thousand to a few seats. City Pages (print version is free at pretty much every restaurant, coffee shop and bar in the city) has a complete list of weekly events plus a collection of liberal editorial rants and naughty adverts in back. There is no better source for what happening and what’s cheap each week.

What to do (summer)
An evening stroll around Lake Harriet or Lake Calhoun, capped by a stop at one of the neighborhood bars or cafés in the area, is a pleasant (and cheap) way to spend a few hours. If you are on the prowl, such a trek can easily be seen as a chance to check out some attractive joggers. If that’s too low-brow, there’s the Shakespeare in the Park series during the summer and $2 movies at the historic Riverview Theater near the Mississippi River Road.

Where to Eat
Ethnic eateries line University Ave in St. Paul (from the State Capital to Snelling). These offer a filling, good meal for under 10 dollars. There is a similar strip in Minneapolis on Nicollet Ave. Sandwich shops, bistros, and cafes offer cheap fare throughout South Minneapolis and near the University of Minnesota.

Where to Drink
Nordeast is one of those hip artsy neighborhoods. Though its desirability is growing, there are still plenty of spots catering to the “I’m hip and creative but rather poor” crowd. Lots of these have live music or events on the weekend evenings (and good people watching every night of the week). If you are looking for some fun of the beer-in-a-pitcher variety, virtually any venue on or near the U of M campus will do.

Minneapolis offers a genuinely laid back trip. Cold weather or warm, there is plenty going on. And no, not everyone talks like Francis McDormand in Fargo.

More Budget Destinations on Gadling

SanDisk slotRadio player comes pre-loaded with 1000 Billboard hits

by Scott Carmichael on

SanDisk has been pushing a new technology called “slotMusic” for a couple of months. The product is essentially a SanDisk MicroSD memory card, pre-loaded with music. It’s a perfect solution for people who are scared of acquiring their own music, or who don’t want to bother with things like ripping a CD.

The newest product in the SlotMusic lineup, is a SanDisk Sansa player fully loaded with 1000 Billboard chart hits. You buy the slotRadio player, as well as 1000 songs, for a fairly reasonable $99.99. Once you are fed up with all the tunes, you can add a slotRadio card with another 1000 songs for just under $40 or single album slotMusic card for $14.99.

The player also features a built in FM radio, a 1.5″ color screen and a belt clip.

As a geek, I’m torn – the product clearly isn’t intended for me, I’ll either rip my own CD’s, or get my music “elsewhere”, but I can see a fully loaded MP3 player being a perfect solution for people who just want some music, and don’t have the time or energy to mess around with how to get it. Do you know how many people own an iPod but only use 10% of its storage space?

Somehow, I suspect that this new player would sell really well at your local airport, perhaps even being dispensed from a vending machine (sadly, the player will initially only be available at Radio Shack).

(Via: SanDisk press release)

Daily deal – 8GB Slacker Wi-Fi Internet radio player for $70

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for the 8GB Slacker G1 Wi-Fi Internet Radio Player (isn’t that a mouthful!). This Wi-Fi enabled MP3/Internet Radio player connects to the Slacker music service, and refreshes your player with a new batch of music any time you want. We’ve taken a closer look at the newest generation Slacker player, and were so impressed that it became one of our top 25 travel products of the year.

This first generation player has all the same features of the Slacker G2 we reviewed, but comes in a slightly larger unit. You’ll still get access to Slacker.com, and you can still load your own music on the device.

The player is on sale at Woot.com, which means it could be out of stock at any moment, so if you are interested in a Wi-Fi enabled 8GB music player, don’t wait too long! Shipping is just $5.

Sounds of Travel: Eddie From Ohio

by Meg Massie on

Here at Gadling we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite sounds from the road and giving you a sample of each — maybe you’ll find the same inspiration that we did, but at the very least, hopefully you’ll think that they’re good songs. Got a favorite of your own? Leave it in the comments and we’ll post it at the end of the series.

Folk musicians are very different from pop stars. They earn their living one gig at a time, and are always on tour somewhere, because if they weren’t, they wouldn’t make any money. They write their own music, and they often draw from their vast experiences on the road, which is why folk music makes great travel tunes.

Eddie From Ohio‘s 2001 release, Quick, is among the best of the best. Just so we’re clear, Eddie isn’t a solo artist — but it is the name of the drummer in this band, not from Ohio but from the commonwealth of Virginia. Got it? EFO has been touring America since 1991, and Quick includes a great collection of travel-inspired tracks.

The tone of this album makes it perfect for the first CD of your road trip. The high energy title track will get you grooving behind the wheel before you’re out of your driveway, and put you in the right frame of mind for an adventure.


A fan favorite from this album is “Candido & America,” the story of a Mexican couple coming to the US to make a new life. It’s a hopeful song about starting over in a new place, and finding beauty where you are. This is one of those songs that entire audiences sing along to at Eddie From Ohio’s live shows.

Another highlight from Quick is “Number Six Driver.” Guitarist Robbie Schaefer wrote this song about the band’s trip back home to Virginia from a west coast tour. They’d been gone for a long time and wanted to power their way home, and Robbie got stuck with the night shift behind the wheel of the band’s RV. Somewhere in Wyoming before the light of dawn, he passed a gas station that offered “Free coffee for the #6 driver.” That is, the sixth driver to stop in during the night. I believe the story goes that travel weary Robbie was lucky driver number six, and from one of his most boring nights, a beautiful song was born, with a little help from a free cup of coffee. Listen to EFO perform the song at the 2003 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (I was in that audience!) in the video above.

There are lots of great travel tunes on EFO’s other CD’s as well. I love “30 Second Love Affair,” about the fantasy one driver creates about another driver while stopped next to her at a traffic light, “Fifth of July,” another track about new adventures and starting fresh, and “From Dacca,” a sweet song about culture shock and adjusting. Then there’s every Edhead’s favorite, “Old Dominion,” bassist Michael Clem’s tribute to the band’s home state. It’ll make you wish you lived here, too.

Click here for previous Sounds of Travel.