[Trombone-l] that Talking Metronome story

[Ray Horton]

Here are a couple of the web sites that attached the name "Tom Ervin, 
Professor of Music at the University of Arizona "  to the talking 
metronome story with the same wording.  If you google "Tom Ervin" & 
"talking metronome" you will get a couple more.  I am sure my pastor got 
it from a site like this, or some preaching source, because she went on 
to make a similar point as does the first site:


<http://sheblogan.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/the-countdown-continues/?referer=sphere_search>


<http://www.as-ic.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=31>


This is very interesting to me, to see an urban legend get a real name 
attached to it, (and a name that we all know, to boot).  It is an urban 
legend - the story "could" have happened, yes, but, then, has anybody 
ever actually seen a talking metronome? 


Raymond Horton


Tom Ervin wrote:
> Ray asked if the talking metronome story (below) was true.
> It might be true, but it did not happen to me.  I rather wish it had!
> Hmm, I bet it did happen to someone else though, perhaps a lister.
>
> Ervin
> +++++++
> Ray wrote:
> Hey Tom Ervin!
> Did the "Talking Metronome" story start with you? I had not heard of 
> it, but after I took one week off (Sunday, Dec 28) from my Minister of 
> Music duties at my church, I came back and saw that my pastor had used 
> your name in her sermon! I googled the story and it seems to have 
> gathered a life of it's own, with and (mostly) without your name attached.
>
> Here is the version that my pastor used:
>
> -------
> Tom Ervin, Professor of Music at the University of Arizona attended a 
> conference for music teachers in New York. He purchased a talking 
> metronome at the display area of the conference. (A metronome is a 
> device for counting the beats in a song.) On the way home from 
> LaGuardia Tom and his son hefted his carry-on bag onto the 
> security-check conveyor belt.
>
> The security guard's eyes widened as he watched the monitor and he 
> asked Tom about the bag’s contents. Then the guard slowly pulled out 
> of the bag a strange looking device, a six-by-three-inch black box 
> covered with dials and switches. Other travelers, sensing trouble, 
> vacated the area.
>
> “It's a metronome," Tom replied weakly. His son cringed in 
> embarrassment. “It's a talking metronome," he insisted. “Look, I'll 
> show you." He took the box and flipped a switch, realizing that he had 
> no idea how it worked. “One . . . two . . . three . . . four," said 
> the metronome in perfect time. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
>
> As they gathered their belongings, Tom's son whispered, “Aren't you 
> glad it didn't go 'four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . '?"
> ---------
>
>
> Tom Ervin
> ervint at u.arizona.edu <mailto:ervint at u.arizona.edu>
> Prof of Trombone, Univ Arizona (Emeritus)
> ...now a recovering trombone player.... ; >}
> (520)241-4411 (cell)
> website:     tom-ervin.com
>
>
>
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